New York Archdiocese Agrees to Mediation for Settling 1,300 Claims of Sexual Abuse

The church, which serves 2.5 million New York Catholics, said it is working to make available $300 million to ‘provide compensation to survivors.’

Archbishop of New York cardinal Timothy Dolan holds his homily during a Mass in his own titular Church ‘Nostra Signora di Guadalupe a Monte Mario’ at the northern outskirts of Romeб on May 4, 2025 in Rome, Italy. Franco Origlia/Getty Images

The Roman Catholic Church in New York and more than 1,300 people who have accused its priests and lay employees of sexual abuse have agreed to enter mediation to resolve the claims.

Announcing the negotiations on Dec. 8, the Archdiocese of New York said it hopes to reach a global settlement that would provide victim-survivors with “the most financial compensation possible.”

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who has led the archdiocese since 2009, said in an open letter that “darkness has cast a shadow” on the church.

“As we have repeatedly acknowledged, the sexual abuse of minors long ago has brought shame upon our Church. I once again ask forgiveness for the failing of those who betrayed the trust placed in them by failing to provide for the safety of our young people,” Dolan said. “Yet, as our faith teaches us, light will always conquer darkness.”

The Archdiocese of New York, which serves 2.5 million Catholics across nearly 300 parishes—the second-largest population of registered Catholics nationwide after the Archdiocese of Los Angeles—has taken the significant and necessary further steps to allow it to “bring peace and consolation to victim-survivors and their families,” Dolan said.

Adding to voluntary compensation efforts by the archdiocese in 2016, dubbed the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP), the cardinal said the church has “made a series of very difficult financial decisions” that, when finalised, should liquidate at least $300 million “to provide compensation to survivors of sexual abuse.”

The decisions included laying off staff, cutting 10 percent of the operating budget, and selling significant real estate assets. The sales include the former archdiocesan headquarters on First Avenue in Manhattan.

Dolan also said the compensation efforts were being complicated by ongoing legal struggles with Chubb Insurance Companies, which ‌has refused to pay claims for policies that included “coverage for sexual misconduct claims, for itself and the parishes, schools, and archdiocesan charitable organizations.” The church said it had purchased such general liability insurance coverage for ‌the decades coinciding with the allegations of abuse.

“Despite accepting millions in premiums from the archdiocese, Chubb has steadfastly refused to honor the policies it issued,” the cardinal said.

Chubb accused the ​archdiocese of tolerating and covering up child sexual abuse for decades and called for more transparency, saying the archdiocese has refused to share “what they knew and when.”

St. Patrick's Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, in New York City, on Sept. 8, 2015. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

“The insurance that the Archdiocese bought covers accidents, it does not provide compensation for knowingly allowing a pattern of abuse to persist for many years,” Chubb said in a statement. “There’s a reason insurance doesn’t cover this kind of behavior as it would reward those who facilitate criminal conduct rather than those who take vigilant steps to mitigate risk and protect children from abuse.”

‘Time for Reckoning’

The settlement is to be negotiated by a third-party mediator, whom both sides agreed would be retired Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Daniel Buckley.

Buckley successfully negotiated the $880 million settlement between the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and 1,353 victim-survivors of sexual abuse in 2024. That archdiocese is the largest in the nation, with about 4.4 million registered Catholics.

Dolan also said that the parish in the archdiocese where most of the claims of abuse were filed has declared bankruptcy. That parish—Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Scarsdale—is facing imminent court proceedings related to “alleged abuse by a former lay employee at the parish,” the cardinal said.

Most of the lawsuits against the archdiocese were filed after New York’s Child Victims Act was enacted in 2019. It extended the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits involving child sexual abuse, creating a one-year retrospective window that allowed petitioners to file historical claims of clergy abuse.

Before this, under the archdiocese’s voluntary compensation effort established by Dolan to compensate victims abused by priests or deacons of the archdiocese, 189 victim-survivors were recognised by the church and compensated more than $40 million.

Attorney Jeff Anderson, who represents some 300 of the 1,311 accusers whose claims date from 1952 to 2020, said that the archdiocese agreed to negotiate settlements over ⁠the next two months. This is ahead of civil litigation against it that is due to come to trial next year.

“The time for reckoning is now, and it’s long past due,” he said.

St. Patrick's Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York in New York City, on Sept. 8, 2015. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

He added that any settlements will have to be accompanied by full disclosure of wrongdoing and measures to prevent future abuse.

According to the archdiocese’s website, since the Catholic Bishops of the United States adopted the Charter on the Protection of Children and Young People in 2002, the church has implemented preventive measures through the “Safe Environment Program,” designed to prevent and respond to any incidents of child sexual abuse.

“We are dedicated to insure the safety of children and young people who have been entrusted to our care in our parishes, schools, religious education classes and other programs,” the website notice reads.

The archdiocese said that since the charter’s adoption, it has identified only one case of credible sexual abuse of a minor involving an active clergyman. Law enforcement was immediately notified and handled the case. The priest was also removed from ministry by the archdiocesan review board.

“Please join me in praying for the victim-survivors, their families, and all who have experienced the horror of abuse,” Dolan said. “It is my heartfelt prayer that together as a family of faith, we may experience healing, hope, and light this Christmas season.”

Reuters contributed to this report.