New York archdiocese agrees to pay over $800 million to about 1,300 clergy abuse survivors

The agreement

The Archdiocese of New York confirmed on Saturday, 24 October, that it has reached an agreement with survivors of sexual abuse by clergy. The total payout is more than $800 million (about €714 million, according to Deutsche Welle). The New York Times, which first reported the deal, said about 1,300 survivors are covered and that each will receive at least $250,000, with larger sums possible depending on how severe the abuse was. The agreement is due to be formally signed in early November, and it would bring years of litigation to an end.

What remains open

Attorney Paul Mones, who represents some of the plaintiffs, said in a phone interview on Saturday that the parties have not yet reached a final deal and that only a few details remain. Survivors have two routes. They can accept the agreement and receive $250,000, or they can fill out a form describing what happened and take part in an allocation procedure that sets each individual amount, Mones explained to the Guardian. He said the settlement would bring closure to many plaintiffs, who are in their 60s, 70s and even 80s. Reports also say the deal would reduce the risk of the diocese going bankrupt, a fate the archdiocese in New Orleans met amid similar scandals.

How the claims reached this point

The legal fight stretches back to 2006, when the New York state court of appeals refused to waive a statute of limitations for allegations of abuse committed in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The state passed the Child Victims Act in 2019, allowing survivors to bring civil suits until they turned 55. Thousands of people then filed lawsuits against the archdiocese, the Boy Scouts and Jeffrey Epstein, among others. Before leaving the post, Cardinal Timothy Dolan had announced a fund of $300 million for victims. Ronald Hicks, appointed by Pope Leo XIV in December 2025, replaced Dolan as archbishop. The New York deal is the second-largest such payout in the US, behind the $880 million Los Angeles settlement reached in 2024.

Reaction from the archdiocese and lawyers

Hicks wrote in an email to his priests, which was shared with the New York Times and passed to AFP, that the archdiocese was close to offering some healing to survivors.

We are on the verge of being able to, please God, bring some measure of healing and reconciliation to all victim-survivors.

Jeff Anderson, an attorney representing survivors, whose firm represents 300 of the victims, called the outcome a meaningful step in a statement.

The unanimous agreement of survivors who filed claims against the Archdiocese of New York marks a powerful moment in the pursuit of justice.

The wider scandal

Since the early 2000s, the Catholic Church in the US has been shaken by a broad abuse scandal. Media reports at that time revealed that priests had sexually abused thousands of children over decades, and church leaders often covered cases up or moved the accused priests instead of reporting them to authorities. Dioceses across the country have already paid hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, and some have set up programs that compensate victims without lengthy court cases. The New York settlement resolves the claims in that state, but the Church still faces lawsuits over alleged abuse in other states.