The Archdiocese of New York and plaintiffs representing nearly 1,300 survivors of sex abuse from priests and lay personnel have finalized a deal. Under terms of the deal, the archdiocese for the first time must maintain a public data base of clergy who have been credibly accused of sex abuse.
Keith J. Kelly Manhattan / 05 Nov 2026 | 06:07
Archbishop Ronald Hicks was only installed as the head of the New York Archdiocese in February, but had to complete the final negotiations in the $804.25 million deal to settle claims of clergy sexual abuse. ( Photo: Archdiocese of New York)
After more than a decade of litigation, the Archdiocese of New York and lawyers representing nearly 1,300 survivors of clergy sex abuse have finalized an $804.25 million settlement.
“Under the completed settlement, survivors have the option to receive an expedited settlement payment or proceed through an individualized allocation process that evaluates and scores their claims based on the abuse and harm they endured,” said the law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates, which represented plaintiffs in the class action that included 1,298 victims.
The law firm said that under terms of the deal, for the first time the Archdiocese will be required to publish the identities of every credibly accused offender, and that the data base must be updated and monitored in the future.
“Disclosure of the priest offender files that have been kept secret and under seal” [are] to be disclosed publicly in a database at the conclusion of the litigation,” said the law firm in a statement on its web site.
Archbishop Ronald Hicks sent an email announcing the settlement to parishioners on Nov. 5. “Under the terms of the settlement, the Archdiocese and other participating entities will provide a total pool of $804.25 million for victim survivors, with a first payment of approximately $619.25 million, and a second payment, due next year, for the balance.”
The deal means the Archdiocese avoids bankruptcy. The global settlement meant that all parties had to agree to the settlement before it became effective.
“The Archdiocese has been raising the money needed to fund the settlement,” Hicks said. “This money will come from various sources. The sale of the former archdiocesan chancery and the move into smaller, more affordable office space and the sale of the ground lease under the Palace Hotel raised a significant percentage of that figure, as has staff cutbacks and downsizing,” said Hicks.
The 20-story diocesan headquarters on First Ave. was sold to a residential developer early last year for $103 million. The land beneath the Lotte New York Palace Hotel was sold in October to the hotel owner for $490 million.
“Under the completed settlement, survivors have the option to receive an expedited settlement payment or proceed through an individualized allocation process that evaluates and scores their claims based on the abuse and harm they endured,” said the law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates, which represented plaintiffs in the class action that included 1,298 victims.
The law firm said that under terms of the deal, for the first time the Archdiocese will be required to publish the identities of every credibly accused offender, and that the data base must be updated and monitored in the future.
“Disclosure of the priest offender files that have been kept secret and under seal” [are] to be disclosed publicly in a database at the conclusion of the litigation,” said the law firm in a statement on its web site.
Archbishop Ronald Hicks sent an email announcing the settlement to parishioners on Nov. 5. “Under the terms of the settlement, the Archdiocese and other participating entities will provide a total pool of $804.25 million for victim survivors, with a first payment of approximately $619.25 million, and a second payment, due next year, for the balance.”
The deal means the Archdiocese avoids bankruptcy. The global settlement meant that all parties had to agree to the settlement before it became effective.
“The Archdiocese has been raising the money needed to fund the settlement,” Hicks said. “This money will come from various sources. The sale of the former archdiocesan chancery and the move into smaller, more affordable office space and the sale of the ground lease under the Palace Hotel raised a significant percentage of that figure, as has staff cutbacks and downsizing,” said Hicks.
The 20-story diocesan headquarters on First Ave. was sold to a residential developer early last year for $103 million. The land beneath the Lotte New York Palace Hotel was sold in October to the hotel owner for $490 million.
The archdiocese also used six properties it owned as collateral for a loan. The New York State Attorney General charities bureau had to approve the use of the real estate in a loan since the church is a not for profit institution.
The global settlement meant that all parties had to agree to the settlement before it became effective.
The money was raised from a variety of sources including the ongoing sale of properties over the past two years and a loan that was collatoralized by six properties. The Archdiocese did not disclose the churches, schools or land used in the collateral package or the size of the loan, but did disclosed that money from the loan was included in the fund.
The fund also received money from the $103 million sale of the Archdiocese’s First Avenue Headquarters earlier this year and the sale of the property beneath the Lotte New York Palace Hotel to the hotel owner for $490 million in October.
Some parishes made voluntary contributions to the fund, Hicks said in the emailed letter. Initially, after a meeting in mid-April at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, pastors were told that they would all have to contribute to a fund using their reserves. That had created fear among pastors who have been contending with dwindling attendance and revenue in the post-COVID era. It appears now that a more widespread mandatory assessment has been avoided.
Chubb Insurance Group, also known through its affiliated insurer Century Indemnity Company, a major insurer of the Archdiocese of New York and its affiliated entities for decades declined to participate in settlement negotiations throughout the litigation, Jeff Anderson said. “As a result, the Archdiocese of New York initiated legal action against the insurer to pursue insurance coverage related to sexual abuse claims. The litigation is pending in the New York County Supreme Court.”
There are several hundred parishes in the Archdiocese, which includes Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and suburban counties Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange Counties with 2.2 million Roman Catholics.
There were 540 defendants named in the lawsuit by Jeff Anderson, which included cases from many parishes and schools as well as the Catholic Youth Organization, Catholic Charities and even St. Patrick’s Cathedral itself. Each parish is run as a separate corporation. Many of the individual parishes were the subject of abuse allegations.
Not included the global settlement were the religious orders of brothers and nuns who had staffed many of the elementary and high schools as teachers. Those teachers reported to the heads of their religious orders, not to the Archdiocese.
“Of the 1,298 claimants, approximately one-third have elected the $250,000 quick-pay option, allowing them to receive compensation without undergoing the allocation process,” the law firm handling the cases stated. “An experienced, neutral judge-allocator will evaluate the remaining claims to distribute proceeds based on the nature of the abuse and the harm done.
The global settlement meant that all parties had to agree to the settlement before it became effective.
The law firm and the archdiocese said it became effective on Nov. 5.
“It is the courage, persistence, and strength of the survivors that have brought us to this moment,” Jeff Anderson said in a statement. “Survivors will not be silenced.”
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