James Haupt
After more than seven years of litigation over clergy sexual abuse, the Archdiocese of New York has agreed to an $800 million settlement to compensate approximately 1,300 survivors.
Archbishop Ronald Hicks had this to say in an email confirming the agreement.
Archbishop Ronald Hicks email to priests of the archdiocese:
We are on the verge of being able to, please God, bring some measure of healing and reconciliation to all victim-survivors. This agreement will also allow the archdiocese to turn its full attention once again to its mission of preaching the Gospel…
It all started with a monumental decision to pass the Child Victims Act in 2019. This allowed survivors of child sexual abuse to pursue civil claims up until age 55. Previously, statutes of limitations generally expired when survivors turned 21.
The Child Victims Act also temporarily allowed survivors to file lawsuits, even if the claims were expired under the old rules. This opened the door for many of the claims in the settlement with the Archdiocese of New York.
Around 300 of these survivors have been represented by Jeff Anderson & Associates. This law firm, led by Jeff Anderson, represents survivors of sexual abuse by clergy across the country. It’s one of seven firms involved in the settlement case.
Jeff Anderson; Founder, Jeff Anderson & Associates
A liaison committee of seven law firms agreed to go to mediation.
And for six months, we, on behalf of all the survivors and the liaison committee, have been in rigorous negotiation with them. And that negotiation has led to this deal.
Outside of compensation, the terms of the agreement includes a publicly released list of all credibly accused offenders and the files on the offenders that have been previously held by the archdiocese.
Jeff Anderson; Founder, Jeff Anderson & Associates
And that is also what caused the survivors to actually come together to reach this agreement.
All 1,300 survivors coming together was especially important because the archdiocese threatened to declare bankruptcy unless everyone involved agreed to the terms. This would’ve delayed compensation and hearings for years.
Jeff Anderson; Founder, Jeff Anderson & Associates
A buy-in from all of them. Which was daunting. Which was unlike anything ever required in any of these cases ever before.
Anderson worked with all of the other lawyers involved to help the survivors understand the deal and obtain 100 percent participation.
Jeff Anderson; Founder, Jeff Anderson & Associates
We are really grateful to all the survivors and all 1,300 of them and all 300 of which we’re working with for their courage, for their persistence, for their patience, and for their commitment to be a part of making something real happen.
The agreement would rank as the second-largest clergy sexual abuse settlement ever involving a Catholic archdiocese in the United States. It still requires formal signatures to be finalized, which are scheduled for the week of November 6.
Jeff Anderson; Founder, Jeff Anderson & Associates
And what more needs to be done now is to make sure we’re all rigorous. To take this opportunity to support the survivors in their healing. To make sure that we come closer together and work towards our common objective. That is the protection of children.
Although no settlement can undo the harm suffered by survivors, the $800 million agreement marks a significant step toward accountability and raises hopes for greater transparency and stronger efforts to prevent future abuse within the Catholic Church.
