The Archdiocese of New York has agreed to pay $800 million to settle claims from about 1,300 people who say they were sexually abused by clergy, the second-largest settlement ever paid by a U.S. Catholic archdiocese. Archbishop Ronald Hicks told priests in a letter Saturday that the deal would “resolve all outstanding claims” brought under New York’s Child Victims Act, FOX 5 New York reported.
It isn’t final yet. The parties are scheduled to sign it on Nov. 6. Only the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has paid more, with an $880 million settlement in 2024.
What’s in the New York archdiocese settlement?
- $800 million to roughly 1,300 survivors whose claims were filed under the Child Victims Act, which opened a window for old abuse lawsuits.
- Documents: the archdiocese agreed to release records on sexual offenders in the church.
- Insurers: survivors keep the right to go after the church’s insurance companies for more money.
- No bankruptcy: the deal avoids an archdiocese bankruptcy, which in other dioceses has frozen claims for years.
To raise the money, the archdiocese has laid off staff, cut its operating budget by 10% and sold real estate, including its headquarters on First Avenue in Manhattan, the National Catholic Reporter reported. The two sides set up a framework in May.
What are survivors and the church saying?
Hicks wrote that the archdiocese is “on the verge of being able to, please God, bring some measure of healing and reconciliation to all the victim-survivors.” Jeff Anderson, an attorney for many of the survivors, said it “marks a powerful moment in the pursuit of justice” and that survivors “have helped bring about a reckoning.”
The archdiocese covers Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and seven counties north of the city. Brooklyn and Queens are part of a separate diocese, which isn’t covered by this deal.
The BeezLoop Take
Money can’t undo what happened to these people as children, and nobody involved pretends it can. But $800 million, released documents and no bankruptcy shield is about as close to accountability as the civil system gets. The survivors forced this. Many of them waited decades for New York to even let them sue.
The documents matter as much as the dollars. A settlement that only pays and stays quiet lets the next institution assume it can do the same. If the archdiocese releases the full records on offenders, and who knew what, it’ll be worth more than the check.
The open question: will the released records name the church officials who knew about abuse and kept it quiet, or only the abusers themselves?
Also on BeezLoop: Cornell banned fraternity parties over its handling of a gang rape allegation, and a judge threw out Timothy Busfield’s child sex abuse indictment.
Sources: FOX 5 New York / Associated Press · National Catholic Reporter · CBS New York (video)
