NEW YORK (NY)
SNAP - Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [Chicago IL]
April 28, 2026
An unnamed priest in the archdiocese of New York says forcing parishes to fund abuse settlements would be a “disaster” for the archdiocese, and describes bankruptcy as “the nuclear option.” Those are not disasters.
The disaster happened each and every time the approximately 1,700 survivors in New York, and the many who still are not ready to come forward, were molested, raped and silenced. There is little doubt that those crimes were enabled by priests, bishops and cardinals, who covered up abuse and paid expensive attorneys to paper those secrets.
Child sexual abuse happened in every corner of the New York archdiocese. Every parish, school and archdiocesan legal entity should contribute whatever it takes to compensate these courageous men and women who as children were irreparably harmed. New York survivors are owed respect, dignity and the truth.
To threaten bankruptcy after simultaneously selling a billion dollars of high-rise real estate is cowardly. The archdiocese is a wealthy institution that doesn’t pay taxes on its property and its donations. It used those advantages to buy comprehensive insurance policies and to fund expensive capital building campaigns.
“The archdiocese of New York sits in the wealthiest enclave in the world’s wealthiest country,” said Angela Walker, SNAP Executive Director. “It should be illegal for nonprofit entities that enable the sexual assault of children to declare bankruptcy as a means of avoiding responsibility for their crimes.”
Catholic priest abuse in New York dwarfs even the stupendous amount of abuse reported in the Los Angeles archdiocese, the largest archdiocese in the United States. Los Angeles stepped up and compensated its 1,300 victims without ever threatening survivors with a “nuclear option.”
The United States congress should reconsider how it permits bankruptcy laws to be applied.
“Financial bankruptcy is not the same as moral bankruptcy. The archdiocese is certainly morally bankrupt, but money or assets that easily convert to money is not in short supply,” Walker said. “What is in short supply is decency and transparency.”