NEW ORLEANS (LA)
Times-Picayune [New Orleans LA]
August 3, 2025
By Stephanie Riegel
In 2023, Archbishop Gregory Aymond told New Orleans’ 500,000 Roman Catholics in a letter that they would eventually be asked to contribute to a settlement in the archdiocese’s long-running bankruptcy case.
Now, that number — and what it would mean to the church’s parishes and charitable organizations — is coming into greater focus.
Court documents filed last week show that the archdiocese’s 104 parishes and 19 of its charitable organizations will be required to pay $60 million toward a financial settlement that will eventually total around $180 million. That does not include $45 million or so from the anticipated sale of Christopher Homes, a portfolio of elderly senior housing.
The settlement funds, to be placed in a trust, would benefit hundreds of survivors of clergy sex abuse and be distributed over several years, provided the plan is approved by two-thirds of abuse survivors and confirmed by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Meredith Grabill.
Grabill has set a Dec. 30 deadline for ending the bankruptcy case, which at more than five years and $50 million in legal fees, is now the longest-running and second-most expensive of the 40 or so church bankruptcy cases filed over the past two decades.
If Grabill sticks to that timeline and the settlement is accepted and confirmed by the end of the year, the parishes and charities would be required to come up with their portion of the $60 million in less than six months.
Court documents do not say how much each parish and organization would be assessed individually or what would happen if they cannot come up with the money by the time the plan goes into effect.
The archdiocese declined to comment because the parties in the case are not legally allowed to discuss the proposed settlement until the judge approves certain documents and financial information that will go out to survivors and other creditors ahead of a vote on the plan.
In his 2023 letter, Aymond said he prayed that through the bankruptcy settlement process,” … and by the grace of God, we will emerge better prepared for the future and be an even stronger Catholic family.”
Many pots
While much of the focus of the church bankruptcy in recent years has centered on how much survivors stand to receive from the settlement, court documents filed last week explain more clearly where the money will come from.
According to the documents, $65 million in cash will come from the archdiocese and $60 million from the 124 parishes and charities that are participating in the bankruptcy process. Another $20 million will be paid over four years following property sales, and $5 million in cash will come from certain church-owned entities that are not participating in the bankruptcy because they do not have any legal exposure in the case.
The remaining $30 million would come from a tentative settlement with church insurers, court documents show.
Additionally, proceeds from the sale of Christopher Homes, estimated to generate around $44 million, would be added to the settlement sometime in mid-2026, for a total of somewhere around $225 million, court documents show.
“The plan provides an efficient and speedy means for allocating compensation to each survivor,” members of the court-appointed committee that negotiated the proposed settlement said in a letter to abuse victims in the case. “The committee believes that the plan is in the best interest of all creditors and urges you to accept the plan.”
Operating at a loss
When Aymond first told local Catholics that they would be asked to contribute to the settlement, reactions across the diocese ranged from anger to sadness to a willingness to do whatever it takes to bring healing to the church and closure to the case.
Two years later, faced with a specific ask from their pastors in the pulpit, it’s unclear how willing the faithful will be to open their pocketbooks.
One thing is apparent: Many local parishes are struggling financially. In a bankruptcy court hearing last week that delved into the value of church assets, financial consultant Chris Linscott testified that “roughly two-thirds of the parishes do not break even. … they do not generate enough to pay their expenses.”
That means they have to tap into reserves or some other source of funds to pay their bills.
Financial documents filed in the case show that nearly 20% of the parishes that will be asked to contribute to the settlement finished the year in the red, with losses ranging from $20,000 to $10 million, not including real estate assets owned by those parishes.
Other parishes have sizable surpluses.
Holy Name of Jesus on St. Charles Avenue had net assets of more than $6.7 million at the end of 2024, not including several pieces of parish-owned real estate with an insured replacement value of more than $26 million and an estimated liquidation value — meaning what it would sell for in a fire sale — of at least $6.5 million.
St. Peter Claver in Treme, on the other hand, finished the year more than $220,000 in the red. Its church, school and other buildings have an insured replacement value of about $5.6 million, with a liquidation value of $150,000, court records show.
Sources familiar with the case and other church bankruptcies say each parish and charitable organization will be assessed according to its financial situation and will not be asked to pay more than it is able.
The parishes and charities will contribute to the settlement to protect against future abuse lawsuits. To do so, legally, they will file a so-called “pre-packaged” bankruptcy that would last no more than 48 hours, attorneys have said, ahead of the plan confirmation process.
“This will help preserve the assets of parishes, schools and ministries against past claims of abuse,” Aymond said in his 2023 letter.
‘Catastrophic’
The archdiocese is following the playbook of other recent church bankruptcy cases. In the Diocese of Rockville Center, New York, which was settled in December after more than four years, the 136 parishes and ministries were required to contribute $53 million toward a $323 million settlement.
Some parishes were tapped for as much as $1 million. Others were asked for less than $100,000. Catholics learned how much of the settlement would come out of their coffers in piecemeal fashion, according to national media reports earlier this year.
In June, the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, announced that its parishes would be required to pay up to 80% of their “unrestricted cash” by July 15 to help fund a $150 million settlement for abuse victims.
The amount each parish was required to pay was based on its cash reserves, according to Catholic News Agency. Parishes with less than $250,000 in unrestricted cash were told they must pay 10% of that amount, while parishes with more than $3 million will be required to pay 75%.
Several parishes in the diocese already facing closure filed suit, arguing that the payments would be “catastrophic and likely would … fatally destroy the parishes.”
In late July, the New York Supreme Court granted them a temporary reprieve while the case makes its way through court.
Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@theadvocate.com.