(LifeSiteNews) — The Archdiocese of New York proposed a massive $800 million settlement to more than 1,300 survivors of alleged clerical abuse last week.
In a May 1 statement, Archbishop Ronald Hicks announced the global settlement proposal with the alleged sexual abuse victims after several months of mediation with the Plaintiff’s Liaison Committee (PLC) and expressed optimism about the direction the process was going. While Hicks did not disclose the amount the archdiocese had proposed, the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Jeff Anderson and Trusha Goffe, announced in a letter emailed to their clients and obtained by The New York Times that it was $800 million, which would pay each survivor at least $250,000.
“As Pope Leo XIV reminds us, we cannot close our eyes or our hearts to the victim-survivors, and indeed the Archdiocese of New York continues our prayerful work to recognize and affirm the pain these individuals have experienced, and do all that we can to promote healing and reconciliation,” Hicks wrote in the archdiocesan announcement.
“We must also acknowledge that suffering continues for many who continue to live with this trauma each day, and recommit ourselves to ensuring that these horrific misdeeds are never again committed in our Church,” he added.
The archbishop stressed that after months of deliberation, a global settlement has been reached to compensate the alleged abuse survivors.
“As you may have heard, the Archdiocese of New York and the Plaintiff’s Liaison Committee (PLC), which represents a majority of victim-survivors, have been working hard for several months to reach an agreement on a global settlement of all sex abuse lawsuits,” Hicks wrote.
“The parties have been working to create the framework of a comprehensive arrangement that will deliver compensation to victim-survivors faster and more efficiently than the traditional legal process,” he added, “Although much work remains to be done before a settlement can be finalized and consummated, I am cautiously optimistic about the path we are on.”
In their letter to the survivors, Anderson and Goffe urged each of their clients to accept the deal, emphasizing that if they do not, the archdiocese will likely file for bankruptcy, further prolonging the litigation and potentially reducing any future settlement payments. Under the proposed agreement, there can be no holdouts, and each plaintiff must agree to the settlement for the deal to be consummated.
READ: Abuse survivor slams Buffalo diocese for settling bankruptcy ‘on the backs of parishioners’
“If the cases against the archdiocese do not settle now, then the archdiocese will almost certainly file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy,” the attorneys wrote. “This would start a lengthy bankruptcy process resulting in several more years of fighting about the archdiocese’s assets, battling with their insurance companies, millions of dollars spent on bankruptcy costs and fees, and likely the same or worse financial outcome for survivors.”
Per the lawyers’ letter, the agreement will also require the archdiocese to publicly disclose information about the accused offenders as well as other “secret documents” that would help “better protect kids in the future.” The archdiocese would also be required to maintain a list of bishops, priests, and deacons who had been credibly accused of abuse on its official website that would be periodically updated with “future substantiated claims.”
In December 2025, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, then the archbishop of New York, announced that the archdiocese would begin laying off staff, reducing its operating budget, and selling archdiocesan real estate to raise $300 million in funds that would be used to compensate the thousands of alleged abuse victims of clerical abuse currently suing the archdiocese as part of this global settlement.
READ: Archdiocese of New York plans layoffs, property sale to fund $300 million sex abuse settlement
The Archdiocese of New York, along with each of the state’s dioceses, has been plagued by allegations of sexual abuse in recent years. Most notably for the archdiocese, in 2018, credible allegations surfaced that the late disgraced Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, while serving as a priest in the archdiocese in the 1970s, had sexually abused a minor, leading to his removal from ministry.
That same year, accusations of mishandling clerical sexual abuse claims prompted then-New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood to launch an investigation into the Archdiocese of New York and the other seven dioceses within the state. The Attorney General’s office has since reached settlements with the Buffalo, Brooklyn, Rockville Center, Rochester, Albany, and Syracuse dioceses while an investigation into the Diocese of Ogdensburg remains ongoing.