New York’s Archdiocese and attorneys for roughly 1,300 parishioners alleging sexual abuse by clergy have agreed to an $800 million settlement of their claims, according to officials.
Largest Settlements in U.S. History
The agreement is the second-largest involving a Catholic archdiocese in the United States, trailing only the $880 million settlement by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. That deal, finalized in 2024, resolved claims for about 1,000 victims and covered prior payments of $740 million. Other recent cases include the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which agreed to a $395 million settlement in June over about 500 lawsuits filed over clergy abuse, and the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which must pay at least $230 million under a federal judge’s approval. A federal judge approved a settlement in December 2025 where the Archdiocese of New Orleans agreed to pay at least $230 million to abuse victims.
The New York agreement ends more than seven years of litigation and requires all claimants to sign off on the terms. A framework for the deal was established in May, and the final signing is scheduled for the week of Nov. 6.
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Scale of the New York Archdiocese
The Archdiocese of New York oversees the city’s boroughs of the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, along with seven northern counties. It contains approximately 300 churches, more than 150 parochial schools, and serves about 2.5 million Catholics.
Survivors faced significant barriers to filing suits due to New York’s 2019 law, which permits civil actions against abusers and institutions that shielded them until victims turn 55. The statute also allowed those who had already turned 55 at the law’s enactment to file claims until August 2021, regardless of when the alleged abuse occurred. This legal framework created a strict window for accountability that survivors handled with the assistance of attorneys like Jeff Anderson and Trusha Goffe.
Jeff Anderson, an attorney representing people who filed more than 1,000 of claims against the Catholic Church in New York state, said in a statement that the unanimous agreement of survivors marks a powerful moment in the pursuit of justice. Trusha Goffe, an attorney in Anderson’s firm, remarked that “The survivors remined resolute through years of litigation to reach this monumental settlement.”
