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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia is putting aside a minimum of $25 million to start paying compensation to people who claim that as children they were sexually abused by clergy.
The archdiocese said Tuesday it expects to have to liquidate some assets to cover all the costs.
A spokesman calls initial funding of $25 million to $30 million "a floor and not a ceiling."
The archdiocese announced last week it was beginning a claims process. It mailed out a few hundred informational packets to people who had previously made credible abuse allegations.
Most of the state's Roman Catholic dioceses are setting up similar funds.
A state grand jury found in August that hundreds of priests had molested children in six other dioceses going back decades. Similar widespread abuse was documented in the Philadelphia Archdiocese over a decade ago.
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