Archdiocese of New York Agrees to $800 Million Deal Over 1,300 Abuse Claims

The Archdiocese of New York has agreed to pay $800 million to settle claims from about 1,300 people who say they were sexually abused by clergy members and lay workers, ending a legal fight that had pushed one of the country's largest dioceses toward the edge of bankruptcy.

Jeff Anderson, a lawyer whose firm represents more than 250 of the plaintiffs, said the settlement was finalized pending signed paperwork and that every plaintiff had agreed to it. The deal was first reported by The New York Times on Saturday. It ranks among the largest settlements in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States. In 2024, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay $880 million to victims of abuse by its clergy.

Archbishop Ronald Hicks confirmed the outline of the agreement in an email to the archdiocese's priests on Saturday afternoon, which was shared with NPR. He wrote that the deal had not yet been signed but that an agreement had been reached with the plaintiffs and their attorneys. "We are on the verge of being able to, please God, bring some measure of healing and reconciliation to all victim-survivors," Hicks wrote. He added that the agreement would allow the archdiocese to turn its attention back to its mission of "preaching the Gospel, healing the sick, caring for the poor and needy, welcoming the stranger, and educating our children."

Anderson said his clients had mixed feelings. "The first is a real sense of relief and achievement," he said, along with sorrow over the abuse they endured. He said they believe that by coming forward they now have a chance to move on and have done something to protect others and "clean up the archdiocese of New York."

The claims were brought under New York's Child Victims Act, which opened a window for survivors to sue over abuse that had long been barred by the statute of limitations. The archdiocese agreed in December 2025 to enter mediation over the roughly 1,300 cases. At the time it said it had laid off staff and planned to sell some of its Manhattan properties to raise $300 million to pay survivors. Earlier reports on the proposed terms, in May, said the archdiocese would pay $615 million in a first installment, with the remaining $185 million distributed within 15 months. Plaintiffs' attorneys said each accuser would receive at least $250,000, and they warned clients that the archdiocese would most likely file for bankruptcy if the deal fell through.

Those reports also said the archdiocese had agreed to release records on offenders, and that survivors could still pursue the church's insurers, including Chubb, for additional payouts that would go into a trust if recovered. The archdiocese sold its headquarters in 2024 as part of its effort to raise money. Hicks, who took over as archbishop in February, said in the spring that he was "cautiously optimistic" that all of the claimants would support a deal.

As of Saturday, the agreement was final in substance but not yet signed. NPR's Daniel Burke contributed reporting.