US: The Archbishop of Boston has outlined plans to sell the Cardinal's residence and other church property to fund a $85 million settlement with victims of church sex abuse. Many Boston parishes and churches will also close, a development accelerated by the financial strain of the settlement.
Speaking to 600 priests from the Archdiocese, Archbishop Sean Patrick O'Malley alluded to his Irish heritage, comparing the church to his extended Irish family, which had to sell the Boston house the Archbishop grew up in for financial reasons.
Similar financial pressures required the "family" of the Boston church to make "painful sacrifices", he said.
The Cardinal's residence is viewed by many as a symbol of the distance between the hierarchy and the laity in Boston. Its sale has been welcomed by Voice of the Faithful, a group seeking more lay involvement in church decisions, and by representatives of abuse victims.
Also up for sale are the 28 acres which surround the Cardinal's residence in Brighton, on the outskirts of Boston, and other properties in the city. It is estimated that the total value of the property for sale could be as high as $50 million, although that is considered to be an optimistic estimate. The Catholic university Boston College has already expressed an interest in the Brighton property.
The remaining funds needed to finance the $85 million abuse settlement are expected to come from insurance claims.
Until those insurance and property sale funds become available the Archdiocese is borrowing the money, with the loan being guaranteed by a number of wealthy Boston Catholics.
Each of about 540 claimants will receive between $80,000 to $300,000, with the Archdiocese paying the claimants by cheque before the end of next week.
The Archbishop's plan holds to his promise that parish donations and appeal funds would not be used.
According to Archbishop O'Malley, the proposed closure of Boston parishes and churches was on the cards in any case, long before any abuse settlement. With declining church attendance, a fall-off in vocations and the financial problems besetting the Boston church a consolidation of Boston's parishes was something that was inevitable, he indicated.