Catholic Diocese Seeks $25 Million from Parishioners for Sex Abuse
Settlement*

SAN DIEGO (AP)- The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego is asking
parishioners to donate $25 million to help pay for its $198.1 million
settlement with childhood sex abuse victims.

The diocesan headquarters and a nearby seminary may have to be sold if
the campaign is unsuccessful, Bishop Robert H. Brom wrote in a letter
dated Monday that will be sent to parishioners with a note from
individual pastors.

"I need your help to cover the expense we incurred recently through
compassionate outreach to our brothers and sisters who suffered sexual
abuse within the family of the church so that we can continue, without
serious jeopardy, the many other aspects of the mission," Brom wrote.

Earlier this month, the bishop asked the 280 priests in the diocese to
contribute one month's salary _ about $1,535 _ to the "Embracing Our
Mission" campaign. The idea came from current priests who saw it as a
gesture toward the 144 men and women who claimed they were abused by
clergy and church workers when they were minors.

The average payout will be $1.38 million per victim, according to the
settlement announced last month. The settlement was the second-largest
payout from any U.S. diocese, though it is dwarfed by the $660 million
settlement reached by the archdiocese of Los Angeles in July.

The San Diego diocese will pay about $107 million of the total. About
$40 million is expected to come from selling real estate, including two
former school sites and property bought for a school that was never built.