BALTIMORE (MD)
WYPR - National Public Radio [Baltimore MD]
October 27, 2026
By Scott Maucione
Last week, the New York Catholic Archdiocese agreed to an $800 million settlement with survivors of sexual abuse. Legal experts say the agreement could serve as a barometer for survivors who are still negotiating for restitution with Baltimore’s Catholic Archdiocese.
New York’s agreement involved 1,300 people who were abused from the 1950s to near present day. A report from the Maryland attorney general established that more than 600 children were abused by nearly 160 priests in the Baltimore Archdiocese over the last 80 years.
However, about 1,000 people have filed claims for restitution after the Baltimore Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in 2023. The attorney general’s report noted that there were likely many more survivors than the office was able to confirm.
Theresea Lancaster, a lawyer for the survivors, said the agreement, along with others, is a good marker for what survivors deserve.
“The $800 million settlement gives survivors a significant strategic leverage,” Lancaster said. “It establishes a clear precedent for what the major archdioceses are capable of paying to compensate survivors.”
The Baltimore Archdiocese and the survivors committee are still far apart on what victims are due.
Baltimore’s Catholic Church offered to pay survivors of abuse about a quarter of a billion dollars in compensation as part of its bankruptcy reorganization plan.
The unsecured creditors, a committee that negotiates for survivors, proposed an $873 million payout to the victims of child sexual abuse.
Much of the money the archdiocese has been willing to pay comes from insurance carriers the church contracted with.
In April, archdiocese insurer The Hartford Group, pledged $100 million to settlement funds.
The archdiocese says its assets alone are worth about a quarter of a billion dollars.
In September, a monumental hearing for survivors of abuse by clergy at the Baltimore Catholic Archdiocese was postponed for another month and a half.
Lawyers for the archdiocese and the survivors committee asked for a 45-day delay to continue negotiations. That hearing could have ended the Church’s bid for bankruptcy.
Dismantling the bankruptcy case would make the Church liable for even more funds for survivors since they would be able to individually sue the Archdiocese. However, survivors would have to wait longer to see their day in court since the justice system is inundated with Child Victims Act cases and there are about 1,000 archdiocese survivors seeking a payout.
“The Court finds it imperative that this case move swiftly towards a resolution—whatever that resolution may be. All parties affected by this case need an ability to move forward,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michelle Harner wrote in her order Monday. “That said, the Court finds adequate justification and good cause to continue certain matters in this case to a date certain, approximately 45 days from the date of this Order. Among other things, the Court determines that the additional time will allow the parties to determine whether a consensual resolution is possible in this case or if an alternative path is needed.”
The new hearing is set for Nov. 19.
The church filed for bankruptcy in the fall of 2023, just days before Maryland’s Child Victims Act, which allowed people to sue the church without a time limit, went into effect.