NEW YORK (NY)
SNAP - Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [Chicago IL]
October 26, 2026
SNAP demands more than money to compensate survivors of clerical abuse in the Archdiocese of New York for the trauma they endured and for the betrayal by their church that failed to protect them.
Angela Walker, Executive Director of SNAP Survivors Network, said full accountability means that all those who shielded perpetrators of abuse must also be brought to justice.
“The church has hidden behind this wall of silence for far too long,” she said. “The settlement is one step on the road to justice, but we encourage survivors to demand accountability from those in the church who hid the abuse and allowed it to continue.”
Approximately 1,300 survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their attorneys unanimously agreed Friday to an $800 million settlement with the Archdiocese of New York to resolve all claims under New York’s Child Victims Act.
In an email to clergy confirming the agreement, Archbishop Ronald Hicks said that finalizing the agreement is scheduled for the week of November 6th when all parties will sign the document.
“We are on the verge of being able to, please God, bring some measure of healing and reconciliation to all victim-survivors,” Hicks said in his update to clergy.
Settlement terms also include:
- Evaluation of individual claims by an experienced and neutral judge/allocator in a process that begins almost immediately.
- Publication of the identities of every credibly accused offender, to be updated and monitored in the future by the Archdiocese.
- Disclosure of the priest offender files that have been kept secret and under seal, to be disclosed publicly in a database at the conclusion of the litigation.
Walker welcomed the publication of all names of those credibly accused of clerical abuse and added that she anticipated that more survivors would come forward once those lists were made public.
“The $800 million payout by the Archdiocese of New York is far from a full measure of justice,” said lead attorney, Jeff Anderson. “For the horrors inflicted, for decades, it does mark a momentous moment of real reckoning.”
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New York’s archdiocese and survivors of clergy abuse agree to $800 million legal settlement
New York’s Archdiocese and Survivors of Clergy Abuse Agree to $800 Million Legal Settlement
Read attorney Jeff Anderson’s statement on the settlement
Read Archbishop Hicks’ update on Child Victims Act Claims