OGDENSBURG (NY)
Watertown Daily Times - NNY 360 [Watertown NY]
November 29, 2025
By Charles Nadeau
When the Diocese of Ogdensburg filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 17, 2023, it described the move as a “difficult and painful decision,” reached after “extensive prayer and consultation.” For survivors of clergy sexual abuse, however, the bankruptcy did not feel like an act of pastoral care — it felt like another form of silence.
The filing came after the opening of New York’s Child Victims Act window, which allowed survivors to bring forward long‑buried claims. A total of 138 lawsuits were filed against the Diocese, many involving abuse from decades past. The Diocese has stated publicly that it does not have the financial resources to litigate or settle all the cases, and that bankruptcy was the only path forward. While those statements may reflect sincere belief, the impact on survivors is undeniably different.
As a survivor, and as Chair of the Survivors Committee, I have felt these delays personally. Each pause in the process, each moment when the Diocese or its insurers “need more time,” lands like another reminder that survivors are still not the priority. What may look like procedural steps on paper carries a human cost. For many of us, these slowdowns reopen wounds we have spent years trying to close. It often feels as though justice is being slow-played, stalled not by necessity but by institutions unwilling to fully face the truth.
There have been days when I have wondered whether the system is designed to wear survivors down. Whether those with power understand the weight of waiting, or the fear that justice might drag on long enough for survivors to lose hope or simply run out of years. These delays echo the very dynamics that harmed us in the first place: authority choosing self-protection over accountability. Yet even in that frustration and sadness, my commitment has only grown stronger. If the system slows, we will speak louder. If institutions delay, we will persist.
And yet, despite all the obstacles and delays, a window of truth is finally opening.
On Dec. 1 and 2 at the James T. Foley U.S. Courthouse in Albany, survivors from the Diocese of Ogdensburg will have their first opportunity in this case to speak publicly during a Survivor Impact Statement session. This is not a trial, nor will it produce a verdict. But it is something morally powerful: a moment where lived testimony meets institutional accountability. Survivors will speak directly before the Court, the Diocese, the Bishop, the public, and the media.
For many, these statements will be the first time they have ever spoken their truth in a public setting. It is not an act of vengeance, it is an act of courage, dignity, and healing. It is a moment for survivors to reclaim their voices after years, and in many cases decades, of being unheard.
To the broader community of the North Country: your presence matters. Attend if you can. Listen if you are able. And if you cannot, please hold survivors in prayer during these profound days. Bearing witness is a form of justice, too.
The Catholic Church teaches that truth brings freedom. Bankruptcy should never be a place where truth goes to die; it should be a place where truth finally breaks through. For far too long, survivors have carried this burden alone. But on Dec. 1 and 2, their voices will rise together, not as victims, but as witnesses to truth, faith, and the possibility of healing.
— Charles Nadeau, Chair, Survivors Committee, Diocese of Ogdensburg Clergy Abuse Bankruptcy Case