By AP/KWMU
St. Louis – The Archdiocese of St. Louis says it spent $866,000 in legal fees in the 2006 fiscal year to settle cases of clergy sexual abuse.
That's the most for any year in the last decade.
The archdiocese also says it made $260,000 in payments to victims in 2006. That's down from $1.8 million the previous year and the fourth-highest annual amount during the past decade.
The archdiocese's ten-year summary of the costs of clergy misconduct is part of its annual financial report for the fiscal year that ended June 30th.
It's published in the November 10 issue of the St. Louis Review, the archdiocesan newspaper.
Archbishop Raymond Burke says the costs are paid exclusively from non-parish real estate sales or investment earnings.