NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times [New York NY]
November 5, 2026
By Jeffery C. Mays and Maya King
The Archdiocese of New York and lawyers representing the 1,300 people who said they were sexually abused by its clergy and lay leaders formally agreed to an $800 million settlement on Thursday, bringing years of litigation to a close.
The agreement was finalized in the days after both the archdiocese and plaintiffs agreed to a framework for the deal. In a letter to the archdiocese — which includes Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and a handful of Hudson Valley communities — that was shared with The New York Times, Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks said that “it has always been our desire to bring a fair and just resolution for victim-survivors, and to promote healing and reconciliation among those who have been hurt.”
“We believe that this global settlement achieves that goal,” he continued.
Under the terms of the settlement, the 1,300 people who said they were abused would have the option of receiving a quick lump-sum payment of at least $250,000. Plaintiffs could also receive a larger payout after an examination of the extent of their claims of abuse.
The settlement ends several years of litigation after the New York Child Victims Act opened the window for claims. It includes a period where the archdiocese had threatened to file for bankruptcy, as many other Roman Catholic archdioceses have done when facing sexual abuse allegations.
Intense negotiations to settle the lawsuits had been ongoing for a year. The terms of the agreement called for all 1,300 plaintiffs to accept the settlement. There were holdouts, and lawyers for the plaintiffs worked to get their clients to accept the deal. Failure to reach a settlement would have resulted in the archdiocese filing for bankruptcy, the lawyers said, which would draw out the process further and most likely result in smaller payments.
The settlement is one of the largest in church history. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles settled similar sexual abuse claims for $880 million in 2024. The Archdiocese of San Francisco agreed to pay $395 million to settle sexual abuse claims from around 530 people in June.
In order to fund the settlement, the Archdiocese of New York cut its operating budget by 10 percent and sold valuable Manhattan real estate, such as the land it owns beneath the Palace Hotel on Manhattan’s East Side and its First Avenue headquarters. The archdiocese also solicited money from its parishes to support the settlement, leaving some church goers to worry about the future.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs celebrated the finalization of the agreement.
“This is a real reckoning and an acknowledgment for the first time from the archdiocese that they allowed so many offenders to create so much suffering for survivors for years,” said Jeff Anderson, whose firm, Jeff Anderson & Associates, represents nearly 300 plaintiffs.
Jim Clemente is a former F.B.I. agent and prosecutor who says he was abused by his counselor at a Catholic camp in 1975. Years later, Mr. Clemente wore a listening device during a meeting with the same counselor and helped to build a case to convict the man.
After years of speaking to dozens of others who say they suffered at the hands of the clergy and lay staff, Mr. Clemente said that the toll of the abusive behavior — which included drug and alcohol addiction, broken relationships, inability to afford therapy and even suicidal thoughts — is unimaginable.
The settlement, he added, “certainly reinforces that they understand that what they did was wrong,” Mr. Clemente said. “For the first time, they have taken financial, moral and legal responsibility for what they did. When you have any kind of youth-serving organization, the number one priority is protecting the youth that are in your care.”
Jeff Herman, whose law firm represents 260 plaintiffs, called the agreement part of a “momentous day” that “has been far too long in coming” for the 1,300 plaintiffs.
“It is a powerful moment of validation and vindication,” Mr. Herman said, “a long-overdue acknowledgment of their suffering, their courage, and their unwavering determination to be heard.”
In his message on Thursday, Archbishop Hicks thanked the parishes for what he called “voluntary contributions” and sought to reassure them.
“You may be wondering what impact this settlement will have on your parish,” Archbishop Hicks wrote, acknowledging the parishes that sold property or dipped into their reserves to contribute to the fund.
“Beyond that, however, life in your parish should continue uninterrupted, celebrating Mass and the sacraments, providing outreach to the poor and disadvantaged, consoling the bereaved, welcoming catechumens into the faith, and all the other activities that make up the life of a vibrant community of faith,” the archbishop continued.
The Archdiocese of New York put in place a wave of new policies to address child sexual abuse claims after revelations of abuse in the Boston Archdiocese led to the establishment of a charter from the church’s bishops in 2002. Under it, every diocese is required to set up an independent review board to evaluate claims of sexual abuse and report them to law enforcement. Any priest or lay person found to have abused a child is required to be removed from ministry or employment.
In 2016, the Archdiocese of New York established an Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program that offers financial compensation to victims of sexual abuse. So far, 350 people have taken part in the program, according to the archdiocese’s website.
One of the plaintiffs, Joseph Caramanno, 41, said he was abused by a priest as a teenager and later became aware of the archdiocese’s efforts to reconcile with some survivors. While he said the archdiocese’s repeated threats of bankruptcy added pressure to his decision to accept the terms of the settlement, doing so marked the end of a “long journey.”
“I took it as ‘take it or leave it,’” he said, noting the large number of plaintiffs who were given the same terms. But after seeing the letter from Archbishop Hicks announcing that the settlement had been signed, he felt relief. “It was affirmation that, OK, this really is coming to an end,” he said. “This is going forward.”
The settlement does not just include monetary payouts. Under the terms, the archdiocese will be required to publish the names of the clergy members and lay leaders who were credibly accused of sexual abuse on its website and to update the list with future substantiated claims of abuse. Iona University, a private Catholic university in New York, will also keep a public archive of instances of abuse that will be accessible to the public.
That aspect of the settlement was critical to the plaintiffs who are hoping to prevent the sexual abuse they say happened to them from happening to others, their lawyers said.
“Each survivor can now know that they stood up, gave voice, withstood scrutiny and have done something powerful to not only help themselves, but to protect others in the future,” Mr. Anderson said.
Angela Walker, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, an advocacy group for church sexual abuse survivors, said the church’s disclosures about priests and lay staff accused of abuse must be robust. The church’s responsibility to those who faced abuse should not end with this settlement, she said.
“This was a horrible breach of trust, and it often affects not only them but also their families,” Ms. Walker said in an interview. “Many of them will continue to have mental and health issues throughout their lives. They will need to have support going forward and the church needs to provide for that.”
Jeffery C. Mays is a Times reporter covering politics with a focus on New York City Hall.
Maya King is a Times reporter who writes about the intersection of politics, religion and ritual in New York City.