Sacred Heart Cathedral in Rochester, NY by DanielPenfield / Wikimedia Commons
Survivors of clergy sex abuse have unanimously accepted a $246 million settlement with the Diocese of Rochester, New York, the latest development in a years-long restitution process that has encountered numerous obstacles.
Local outlet Spectrum News 1 reported that the settlement is part of the diocese’s 2019 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The plan for compensating the more than 460 survivors will be heard in court Sept. 5, where it must be approved by a judge before it can be completed.
CatholicVote previously reported that the abuse survivors had initially approved a diocesan plan for reorganization in July 2024, which would have enabled the diocese to come up with more than $1 million to settle the claims. The plan also would have released the diocese from future liability, but it was negated in light of a June 2024 U.S. Supreme Court case that banned such action.
The diocese had also faced complications with its insurer, Continental Insurance Co. (CNA). The company had objected to the diocese’s initial plans and proposed an alternative settlement plan, which abuse survivors rejected.
The tension between the diocese and CNA led to delays in closing the settlement, CatholicVote reported, leading to the bankruptcy judge ordering them to resolve their differences or appoint new mediators.
According to Spectrum News 1, CNA finally agreed to pay $120 million of the total settlement. The outlet also reported that the abuse survivors hope that the settlement will help them move on from the past.
“I hope for the rest of the other survivors that they will have an experience similar to my own and that they will accept what has gone on in this case and they will see this as an acknowledgement of something awful that happened to them,” Carol Dupre, one of the survivors, said.
Spectrum News 1 also reported that the diocese issued a statement expressing hope that the new settlement plan will be approved in court in September and that the proceedings’ conclusion will “help to ease the hurt and suffering of the survivors, who have endured this painful process for six years.”
The statement continued, “We pray that they will know the peace of Jesus and their faith, so scarred by those who so betrayed their trust, will be restored in Our Lord who is our ultimate hope.”
