Parishes to pay $50 million in diocese sex abuse settlement

ALBANY―Following years of negotiations, the Albany Catholic Diocese has reached an agreement to pay $148 million to survivors of sexual abuse by clergy, religious, lay employees, and volunteers of the diocese.

The settlement, which includes some 440 victims, was announced Friday and is part of the diocese’s chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed in March of 2023 in response to lawsuits under the New York Child Victims Act.

The total amount remains subject to a creditor vote and court approval; however the dollar figure has been accepted by the Tort Committee, comprised entirely of individuals who themselves survived childhood sexual abuse by clergy members and employees within the diocese.

Bishop Mark O'Connell, a canon lawyer who came to the diocese just last December, offered “a clear and unnuanced statement of guilt on the part of the diocese in its handling of our predator priests and others within the diocese.”

“It is a shameful chapter in our history and no monetary settlement such as the one reached today will erase the pain caused to survivors,” O’Connell said.

“I apologize and promise to be exceedingly diligent in my time in Albany to prevent anything like this occurring again,” he added.

Collectively, the 126 parishes across 14 counties will contribute $50 million of that $146 million, primarily from parish savings, according to the diocese.

Diocese officials are currently meeting with parishes to “discuss the individual amount each parish will be expected to contribute.”

How much money each victim will see “is impossible to tell,” the diocese noted.

“Once the total number is known there is a separate process involving independent parties who will help to determine what each survivor will receive,” the diocese stated.

John Ciota and Rick Salamone, co-chairs of the Tort Committee, said the settlement marks a significant step towards the conclusion of the bankruptcy case and “closure for all survivors who have lived with this pain throughout their lives.”

“The survivors on the Official Committee of Tort Claimants in this case stood firm, fighting tirelessly for all survivors. Despite the emotional cost, they never wavered. This historic outcome is the result of their courage, resilience, and commitment to justice,” said Jeff Anderson, an Albany attorney whose law firm represents 186 of the plaintiffs.

Absent from the settlement amount are contributions from the diocese’s insurers, including Hartford, London Market Insurers (LMI), and Interstate, he noted.

“Insurers have consistently denied, delayed, and evaded responsibility,” Anderson said. “These tactics are not isolated; they are part of a broader pattern seen across New York and the country.”

Negotiations with the insurers will continue over the coming months.

“The price we have paid is very high. The hurt that was caused is greater,” said O’Connell. “I am very sorrowful to those who were victimized, but I am also proud to be part of a people that is paying our debt to whom it is owed.”

Albany is now the fifth diocese in the state to reach a settlement with survivors.