| A $5 million slander lawsuit and a federal employment termination complaint against the Archdiocese of San Antonio have been settled out of court for a much smaller amount.
That amount isn't being disclosed, but archdiocese officials said they still hope to get the plaintiff's agreement to make it public.
Attorney Ron Mendoza, who negotiated the settlement with former parish secretary Jerrilynn Marie White for the archdiocese, announced the deal at a news conference Thursday in the Catholic Chancery.
The mandatory national Charter for Protection of Children and Young People approved by the U.S. Catholic bishops in 2002 forbids dioceses to make confidential settlements in sexual abuse lawsuits.
Although the cases were related to White's complaint that a priest had an affair with her, Mendoza said the two cases don't fall strictly under the charter because White's suit wasn't directly about sexual abuse. | 
