For The Church, Abuse Gets Costly

A scandal that has already cost the Roman Catholic Church dearly in moral authority is beginning to take a serious economic toll. In a landmark agreement in Ireland last week, the church offered $110 million to compensate thousands of victims of sexual and physical abuse that occurred over several decades in church-run schools there. Meanwhile, a Tucson, Ariz., diocese settled for an undisclosed sum with former altar boys who said they were molested by their priest, a quiet deal that typifies how these cases are handled in the U.S. Less common is the very public court battle of John Geoghan, a...

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