The U.S. Catholic Church is quietly entering a new season.

Settlement negotiations are under way in Los Angeles for the largest remaining batch of clergy sex abuse lawsuits. Polls have shown greater trust in the nation's bishops than a few years ago. There's even been a fundraising recovery in the city at the epicenter of the worst scandal to ever strike American Catholicism - Boston.

Five years after the national abuse scandal began there, triggering a long season of reflection, the church is moving out of crisis mode.

That isn't to say the scandal is over. Earlier this year, San Diego became the fifth diocese to seek bankruptcy protection. And the financial implications of a huge settlement in Los Angeles, the nation's largest archdiocese, could be far-reaching.

But the Los Angeles situation can be viewed in a different light, as well: If a settlement in the tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars is worked out, it will be placed near the end of a list of American Catholic dioceses coming to financial terms with victims of clergy sexual abuse, not the beginning.

"I think the crisis mode is over, and I think that's a good thing," said Robert S. Bennett, a Washington, D.C., lawyer....

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

1. Enda wrote: Catholic Bishops did take the problem seriously, even if they had to be pushed in some cases.  Not so with us.  How sad that the push for TEC Bishops is over the cliff.  How sad! July 14, 1:35 pm | [comment link]

2. DonGander wrote: “Robert S. Bennett, a Washington, D.C., lawyer” I assume that this is Bill Bennett’s brother. A small world there in Washington City. There are several lessons to be learned by all of us in what happened in the RC Church. I want to be able to use those lessons in the microcosm of my life. DonGander July 14, 10:00 pm | [comment link]

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