NEW YORK ARCHDIOCESE NEARS SEXUAL ABUSE SETTLEMENT

The Archdiocese of New York is finalising a settlement worth more than $800 million with over 1,300 people who say clergy members and lay leaders sexually abused them, according to lawyers representing claimants. The parties have yet to sign the agreement. Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks said the claimants, their lawyers and the archdiocese must all approve it. “We are on the verge of being able to, please God, bring some measure of healing and reconciliation to all victim-survivors,” Hicks said.

Claimants could take $250,000 or submit details of the alleged abuse for a review that may result in a larger payment, according to lawyer Paul Mones. Lawyers said the archdiocese and an insurer had allocated $20 million to be shared equally among claimants who reject the main settlement. They warned clients that the archdiocese could seek bankruptcy protection if the settlement fails, prolonging the legal process. The archdiocese first proposed an $800 million settlement in April. It covers Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and parts of the Hudson Valley.

New York’s highest court declined in 2006 to waive a time limit on claims concerning alleged abuse in earlier decades. The state passed the Child Victims Act in 2019, allowing survivors to bring civil claims until they turned 55. Thousands subsequently sued the archdiocese, the Boy Scouts and Jeffrey Epstein, among others. In 2025, the archdiocese sought to raise $300 million for claims by 1,300 survivors through asset sales and cost cuts. Lawyer Jordan Merson, whose firm represents 60 claimants, said the proposed settlement would help survivors obtain justice without waiting “for years in a prolonged bankruptcy process.”