The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York announced it is seeking at least $300 million as it moves toward a global settlement for roughly 1,300 people who say they were sexually abused as minors by priests and lay staff. Archdiocese officials said they and representatives of the claimants have agreed on a mediator and begun raising funds by cutting costs and selling property, including their Manhattan headquarters and other real estate.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan informed about 300,000 Catholics in the archdiocese of the mediation agreement in a letter, saying church leaders recognize the shame of past abuses and have asked for forgiveness for failures to protect young people. He said the archdiocese has taken “a series of very difficult financial decisions” intended to raise what he hopes will exceed $300 million to fund a settlement, though he acknowledged that the final amount could be higher or lower.
Attorneys for claimants described the move as progress but cautioned that no settlement has been reached. Jeff Anderson, who represents about 300 claimants, called the archdiocese’s step “a step in the right direction,” but noted that the parties have only agreed to a mediation process rather than a final deal.
Both sides have selected retired California judge Daniel J. Buckley as a neutral mediator. Buckley previously helped negotiate a large settlement between the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and more than 1,000 people who accused diocesan personnel of abuse.
The archdiocese has faced roughly 1,700 sexual-abuse claims since New York enacted the Child Victims Act in 2019 and the Adult Survivors Act in 2022. Those laws created limited-time “look-back” windows allowing suits that had been barred by statutes of limitations, triggering a large volume of claims that strained some religious organizations and pushed six of New York’s eight Catholic dioceses into bankruptcy.
Before the new laws, the Archdiocese of New York handled some older allegations through an independent compensation program established in 2016, an approach that survivors and advocates criticized as attempting to resolve matters outside the courts.
The announcement in New York coincided with news that the Archdiocese of New Orleans reached a settlement of at least $230 million for hundreds of survivors, a deal approved by a federal bankruptcy judge. Archbishop Gregory Aymond said he hoped that settlement would help survivors find closure while acknowledging the enduring trauma many endure.
The New York archdiocese’s efforts to resolve claims have been complicated by a long-running dispute with insurer Chubb, which has declined to cover settlements it says stem from concealed criminal activity, including child abuse and failures to stop it. Chubb has said it paid toward legal defense costs but will not pay settlements tied to conduct it contends was knowingly enabled, arguing that insurance should not reward wrongful or criminal behavior.
Serving about 2.5 million Catholics across Manhattan, Staten Island, the Bronx and northern suburbs, the Archdiocese of New York is the nation’s second-largest. Cardinal Dolan, its leader, is a prominent public figure who has frequently appeared in the media.
Officials stressed that mediation is the next step and that no final settlement has been reached; discussions and fundraising are ongoing as both sides pursue a resolution.
