The church, which serves 2.5 million New York Catholics, said it is working to make available $300 million to ‘provide compensation to survivors.’
The Roman Catholic Church in New York and more than 1,300 people who have accused its priests and lay employees of sexual abuse have agreed to enter mediation to resolve the claims.
Announcing the negotiations on Dec. 8, the Archdiocese of New York said it hopes to reach a global settlement that would provide victim-survivors with “the most financial compensation possible.”
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who has led the archdiocese since 2009, said in an open letter that “darkness has cast a shadow” on the church.
“As we have repeatedly acknowledged, the sexual abuse of minors long ago has brought shame upon our Church. I once again ask forgiveness for the failing of those who betrayed the trust placed in them by failing to provide for the safety of our young people,” Dolan said. “Yet, as our faith teaches us, light will always conquer darkness.”
The Archdiocese of New York, which serves 2.5 million Catholics across nearly 300 parishes—the second-largest population of registered Catholics nationwide after the Archdiocese of Los Angeles—has taken the significant and necessary further steps to allow it to “bring peace and consolation to victim-survivors and their families,” Dolan said.
Adding to voluntary compensation efforts by the archdiocese in 2016, dubbed the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP), the cardinal said the church has “made a series of very difficult financial decisions” that, when finalised, should liquidate at least $300 million “to provide compensation to survivors of sexual abuse.”
The decisions included laying off staff, cutting 10 percent of the operating budget, and selling significant real estate assets. The sales include the former archdiocesan headquarters on First Avenue in Manhattan.
Dolan also said the compensation efforts were being complicated by ongoing legal struggles with Chubb Insurance Companies, which has refused to pay claims for policies that included “coverage for sexual misconduct claims, for itself and the parishes, schools, and archdiocesan charitable organizations.” The church said it had purchased such general liability insurance coverage for the decades coinciding with the allegations of abuse.
By Melanie Sun
