NEW YORK (NY)
USA Today [McLean VA]
October 25, 2026
By Thao Nguyen
About 1,300 survivors of clergy sexual abuse have unanimously agreed to an $800 million settlement with the Archdiocese of New York, marking one of the largest payouts by a Catholic diocese in the United States.
The agreement follows more than seven years of litigation stemming from claims filed under New York’s Child Victims Act, or CVA, which changed the state’s strict statute of limitations on sexual crimes against children and opened up a one-year window to revive past claims of any age. Jeff Anderson & Associates, which represents 300 abuse survivors, announced on Oct. 24 that all claimants had agreed to the settlement plan.
The settlement emerged after nearly a year of negotiations between the archdiocese and attorneys representing abuse survivors amid concerns that a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing could complicate or delay compensation. The parties first reached a settlement framework in May.
“The unanimous agreement of survivors who filed claims against the Archdiocese of New York marks a powerful moment in the pursuit of justice,” attorney Jeff Anderson said in a statement. “Through their courage, sacrifice, and determination, survivors have helped bring about a reckoning and a meaningful step toward accountability.”
The settlement still requires completion of several procedural steps before survivors can begin receiving payments. Attorneys for the survivors said the agreement also calls for the public identification of credibly accused clergy members and the release of offender files that have remained under seal.
One of largest clergy abuse settlements in United States
For years, Catholic dioceses across the country have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to resolve clergy sexual abuse lawsuits. To manage and settle these lawsuits, some have declared bankruptcy.
New York and other states have enacted laws that temporarily enabled victims of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits over decades-old crimes. These laws have pushed over two dozen Catholic dioceses to seek bankruptcy protection in recent years, according to Reuters.
The $800 million agreement with the Archdiocese of New York ranks among the largest clergy sex abuse settlements in U.S. history. It is second only to the $880 million settlement reached by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2024.
In June, the Archdiocese of San Francisco announced a $395 million settlement with about 530 people who said they were abused as children by priests. In December 2025, a federal judge approved a $230 million settlement between hundreds of victims of clergy sexual abuse and the Archdiocese of New Orleans, NOLA.com reported.
Attorneys: New York’s Child Victims Act ‘gave voice to survivors’
Attorneys for abuse survivors credited New York’s Child Victims Act with making the settlement possible.
Jeff Anderson & Associates said the law, enacted in 2019, allowed survivors to pursue civil claims that previously would have been barred by statutes of limitations and led to an unprecedented wave of litigation against the Archdiocese of New York.
“The Child Victims Act gave voice to survivors, and it was a shift in public policy in New York, made by lawmakers to protect children and the wounded instead of the perpetrators and those that protected them,” attorneys said in a statement on Oct. 25. “It allowed them to come forward, to give voice, to bring suits, to hold the offenders, and those that permitted it to occur to be accountable in courtroom in a way the law had never allowed before.”
Several New York dioceses, including those in Rochester, Rockville Centre and Syracuse, have previously used bankruptcy proceedings to address large numbers of clergy abuse claims. Lawyers for the survivors said the possibility of a similar filing by the Archdiocese of New York became a key factor in settlement negotiations.
A framework for the settlement was announced in May, when the Archdiocese of New York agreed in principle to the $800 million payout. Attorneys and church officials then spent months in mediation before reaching a final agreement.
According to attorneys, the settlement resolves claims brought by about 1,300 people who alleged they were sexually abused by clergy or others affiliated with the archdiocese.
Settlement includes transparency measures, compensation reviews
Under the agreement, each survivor’s claim will be evaluated individually by a neutral allocator, who will determine compensation based on the nature of the abuse and resulting harm, according to attorneys for the survivors. The attorneys said some claimants may choose a “quick-pay” option that would provide an immediate payment of $250,000 rather than participate in the allocation process.
In addition to financial compensation, the settlement includes transparency measures. Attorneys said the Archdiocese of New York has agreed to publish and maintain a list of credibly accused offenders and disclose files related to accused clergy members that have not previously been made public.
The settlement also preserves survivors’ ability to pursue claims against the church’s insurers for additional compensation and avoids a bankruptcy filing by the Archdiocese of New York, according to attorneys.
Contributing: Joseph Spector, USA TODAY Network; Reuters