NEW YORK (NY)
WABC [New York City NY]
December 9, 2025
[See video.]
NEW YORK (WABC) — The Archdiocese of New York on Monday announced it will set up a $300 million fund to compensate victims of sexual abuse who have sued the church.
In a statement, Cardinal Timothy Dolan said the archdiocese would pay for the fund by reducing its budget and selling off assets, including completing the sale of its former headquarters in Manhattan, with the goal that the fund “can be set aside to provide compensation to survivors of sexual abuse.”
The archdiocese has also agreed to engage retired Judge Daniel J. Buckley as a mediator between itself and victims to reach a settlement, Dolan said.
Buckley had a similar role in negotiations between the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and more than 1,000 people there.
But experts say this is a monumental task and a mediator doesn’t have legal power, so if either side wants to walk away, he can’t stop them.
The money would be part of a settlement that would go to roughly 1,300 people who say priests and others sexually abused them as minors.
Mitchell Garabedian has represented victims for more than three decades and is cautiously optimistic about the new developments.
“A settlement could come about, but it could also fall apart now or at the last minute,” Garabedian said. “I would characterize it as a PR campaign, more stalling but at the same time, the Catholic Church is trying to portray itself as acting in good faith and maybe it will reach agreement with the victims’ attorneys.”
The final amount of the settlement could be higher or lower.
To get there, Cardinal Dolan says the Archdiocese has made a series of difficult financial decisions including reducing its operating budget and firing employees.
Last year it announced it was selling the former headquarters on First Avenue and 56th Street to “ease the finial burden from the sex abuse crisis.”
It had been its headquarters since 1973 and went for a reported $100 million.
In a letter, Cardinal Dolan again acknowledged the sexual abuse of minors has brought “shame upon the church” as those seeking justice stress no amount of money can give them back what was stolen from them.
“Any victim I’ve ever represented would say, if I could choose between $1 billion and getting my childhood back, I choose my childhood,” Garabedian said.
The announcement came as a federal judge on Monday approved a settlement for the New Orleans Archdiocese to pay $230 million to hundreds of victims of clergy sexual abuse. The New Orleans Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in 2020 to avoid handling each of the abuse claims separately.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)