NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WDSU [New Orleans]
October 30, 2025
By By Erin Lowrey and Aubrey Killion
New Orleans sex abuse survivors have overwhelmingly approved a settlement plan that would end the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ yearslong bankruptcy case.
This comes after clergy abuse survivors voted over a six-week period on a $230 million settlement plan.
The votes were due Wednesday night and were tabulated. A recent court filing shows abuse survivors overwhelmingly accepted the deal, which would allow payouts by next year.
The plan is expected to go into effect by the end of the year.
Payouts, which could roll out as soon as January, will be specific to sex abuse claims and based on a point system.
The accepted plan would pay settlements to an estimated 660 sex abuse survivors who have filed claims in the case.
The plan settlement proposes the following compensation for sex abuse survivors:
- $130 million in committed cash funding to be paid by the archdiocese and its affiliates into a settlement trust on the effective date of the plan
- A $20 million promissory note from the archdiocese, which will be prepaid upon the sale of Christopher Homes Inc.’s older adult housing facilities
- Approximately $30 million from insurance companies, which have reached settlements to date
- The prospect of additional recoveries in 2026 (estimated to exceed $40 million) from the sale of Christopher Homes Inc.’s 15 older adult living facilities, currently marketed by a national firm
- Substantial additional recoveries from abuse litigation against Travelers Insurance Co., which insured the archdiocese during the time period in which many of the abuse claims occurred
- Importantly, unprecedented child protection measures and transparency into the history of abuse in the archdiocese
According to a news release issued by attorneys for the Survivors Committee, the plan also requires the archdiocese and its archbishop to implement new binding child protection protocols.
Those protocols include:
- Overhauls the handling of reports of sexual abuse to notify law enforcement, standards for investigation of claims, documentation of all communications and regular information to the survivor, and removal of the accused perpetrator from ministry
- Provides for outside oversight to ensure compliance with the protocols, including a survivor seat on the Internal Review Board that reviews claims of clergy abuse and an outside child abuse prevention expert to review and monitor all child protection policies and practices
- Adopts a Survivors Bill of Rights that requires that survivors be treated with dignity and respect, provides resources for counseling and other services, and provides survivors with a direct line of communication to the archbishop to complain about mistreatment
- Creates a public archive of thousands of pages of documents related to abuse claims that, up until now, have been kept secret
Sex abuse survivors’ claims will be reviewed before payments are decided.
WDSU reached out to the Archdiocese of New Orleans for comment. At the time of this publication, a response had not been received.
By Erin Lowrey and Aubry Killion , Investigative Reporter