The Archdiocese of New York has agreed to pay more than $800 million to hundreds of people who suffered sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, bringing years of negotiations towards a close.
The archdiocese announced the settlement on Saturday, saying the agreement would be formally signed in early November.
New York Archbishop Ronald Hicks disclosed the development in an email to priests, which was later forwarded to journalists by the archdiocese.
“We are on the verge of being able to, please God, bring some measure of healing and reconciliation to all victim-survivors,” Hicks wrote.
According to The New York Times, which first reported the agreement, approximately 1,300 victims are expected to receive compensation, with each person guaranteed at least $250,000. The final amount for individual claimants could be higher, depending on the severity of the abuse suffered.
The settlement covers cases involving the Archdiocese of New York, which serves Manhattan, Staten Island, the Bronx and several counties north of New York City.
Hicks said the agreement would allow the archdiocese to refocus on its religious and social responsibilities, including preaching the Gospel, caring for the sick and disadvantaged, welcoming strangers and educating children.
Hicks was appointed bishop by Pope Leo XIV last year, succeeding influential conservative Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Before leaving the position, Dolan had announced the establishment of a $300 million fund to compensate victims of sexual abuse.
The settlement comes amid decades of sexual abuse scandals involving the Catholic Church in the United States. Investigations by journalists in the early 2000s revealed that Catholic priests had abused thousands of children over several decades, while church officials were accused of concealing cases or transferring offending priests instead of reporting them to civil authorities.
The scandals have forced dioceses across the country to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation, with some establishing settlement programmes to resolve victims’ claims without lengthy court proceedings.
In June, the Archdiocese of San Francisco announced a $395 million settlement involving approximately 530 people who accused its clergy of sexual abuse, in an effort to resolve their lawsuits.
Catholic Church agrees to pay $800m to 1,300 sexual abuse victims in New York