New York Archdiocese to establish $300 million fund for sexual abuse victims
The fund would be financed through budget cuts and the sale of assets
On Monday, the Archdiocese of New York announced plans to establish a $300 million fund to compensate victims of sexual abuse who have filed lawsuits against the church.
In a statement, Cardinal Timothy Dolan said the fund would be financed through budget cuts and the sale of assets, including the completion of the sale of the archdiocese’s former Manhattan headquarters. The goal, he said, is for the fund to be “set aside to provide compensation to survivors of sexual abuse.”
The archdiocese has also appointed retired Judge Daniel J. Buckley as a mediator to facilitate settlements with victims. Buckley previously played a similar role in negotiations between the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and more than 1,000 claimants there.
A spokesperson for the archdiocese said church officials hope the fund would cover settlements for most, if not all the roughly 1,300 outstanding claims against the archdiocese.
The announcement came as a federal judge on Monday approved a settlement for the New Orleans Archdiocese to pay $230 million to hundreds of victims of clergy sexual abuse. The New Orleans Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in 2020 to avoid handling each of the abuse claims separately.