L.A. Archdiocese agrees to record $880M settlement over sex abuse claims

Flashback: The Archdiocese of Los Angeles had previously agreed to pay $740 million in various sexual abuse settlements.

• The new settlement brings the archdiocese's total payout in such cases to over $1.5 billion, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Driving the news: The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest Catholic archdiocese in the U.S., agreed to the new settlement stemming from 1,353 claims of childhood sexual abuse, per a joint statement from the plaintiffs' liaison counsel and an attorney for the archdiocese.

• "While there is no amount of money that can replace what was taken from these 1,353 brave individuals who have suffered in silence for decades, there is justice in accountability," the plaintiffs' liaison counsel said, thanking the archdiocese for "acknowledging its failures."
• The settlement will be paid for via the archdiocese's investments, bank holdings and other assets, the statement noted.

What they're saying: "I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart. My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered," L.A. Archbishop José H. Gomez said in a letter to worshippers Wednesday.

• Some of the sexual abuse claims covered by the settlement date back to the 1940s, Gomez said.
• The acts were perpetrated by clergy, lay people, and religious order priests and clergy from other dioceses serving in the city, he said.

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Editor's note: This story was updated with additional context.