America's largest archdiocese in Los Angeles agrees to pay $880 million to 1,353 people who were sexually abused as children

America's largest archdiocese has agreed to pay a record-breaking $880million to more than 1,000 people who have claimed to be sexually abused as children by clergy members.

The settlement announced Wednesday by lawyers for the 1,353 people who have filed suits against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and its attorneys represents the largest single payout by any diocese in the United States, according to the New York Times.

It also brings Los Angeles' cumulative total payouts in sex abuse lawsuits over a quarter of a century to more than $1.5billion.

'I am sorry for every one of these incidents from the bottom of my heart,' said Archbishop Jose H Gomez as he announced the settlement.

'My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered.'

Gomez said the terms of the settlement 'will provide just compensation to the survivor-victims of these past abuses, while also allowing the Archdiocese to continue to carry our our ministries to the faithful and our special programs serving the poor and vulnerable in our community.'

He explained that the settlement would be paid through 'reserves, investments and loans, along with other archdiocesan assets and payments that will be made by religious orders and others named in the litigation.'

No donations designated for parishes, schools and specific mission campaigns would be used to pay the victims, the archbishop vowed.

The settlement also requires the Archdiocese to disclose more of the files it has kept about child sex abuse claims, the Los Angeles Times reports.

More than 300 priests in the Archdiocese - which serves more than four million Catholics at almost 300 parishes - have been accused of sexually assaulting minors.

Victims have also alleged that church leaders knew about the abuse, but refused to alert law enforcement.

At times, the church leaders even allegedly moved clergy known to have sexually abused minors to other parishes, rather than removing them from priesthood all together.

Some of the sexual abuse cases date back decades, but were never brought because the statute of limitations had passed.

But that changed in 2019, when California opened a three-year window for the revival of those claims.

'These survivors have suffered for decades in the aftermath of abuse,' said attorney Morgan Stewart, who led the negotiations with church officials.

'Dozens of the survivors have died. They are aging, and many of those with knowledge of the abuse within the church are, too,' she said. 'It was time to get this resolved.'

She said one of her major concerns during the years-long negotiations was ensuring the Archdiocese could pay their clients enough money for their suffering without it going bankrupt - which would delay payments for the aging victims.

'We firmly believe that we reached the best number that was possible, short of them filing for bankruptcy,' Stewart said.

She noted that 'too many dioceses have filed bankruptcy as a process to limit survivors' rights.

'LA did not do that.'

Stewart also said, 'The massive amount of this settlement reflects the amount of grievous harm done to vulnerable children and the decades of neglect, complicity and cover-up by the Archdiocese, which allowed known serial predators to inflict this harm.'

The Archdiocese had previously agreed to pay $660million in lawsuits brought by 508 people in 2007, and has had to sell of some real estate, liquidate investments and take out loans to cover the costs of litigation.

Wednesday's settlement now represents the near conclusion of the quarter of a century of litigation, with church officials saying there are only a few suits remaining.

But the announcement was met with mixed reactions, with some advocates saying it does not go far enough.

'It's never going to be the full justice when the harm is a child's life,' said Michael Reck, an attorney with Jeff Anderson & Associates who helped represent some of the plaintiffs.

'But it's a measure of justice and a measure of accountability that gives these survivors some sense of closure at least.'

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests also called the settlement a good start, but argued that more needs to be done as it called for Gomez to release all the clergy files related to sex abuse cases.

'We fear and believe there are many more survivors out there who have not yet come forward,' Dan McNevin, a board member, told the New York Times.

'It is incumbent on Archbishop Jose H Gomes to find a way to bring those lost souls in from the cold.'

Meanwhile, other diocese in California - including the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the diocese of Oakland and San Diego - have protected themselves from the child abuse suits by filing for bankruptcy.

'There are a lot more dominoes in California to come down,' Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, warned.