A Roman Catholic diocese has reached a settlement with sexual abuse survivors after several years of proceedings in bankruptcy court, marking the latest example of Catholic dioceses in the United States shelling out large sums as fallout from sex abuse scandals continues.
In a letter to parishioners published last week, Bishop Salvatore Matano of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester in New York announced that the diocese had reached a $246 million settlement with survivors of clerical sexual abuse. Matano clarified that $55 million of the settlement will be covered by contributions from the Diocese of Rochester and its affiliated entities, while the remaining amount will be covered by insurers.
“With profound sadness, I apologize to the survivors, the victims of such sinful and tragic acts for which they were not responsible,” Matano wrote. “The Diocese has accepted responsibility for the damage caused by abuse. I ardently pray that this conclusion will bring to the Survivors, and to our Diocesan family, peace, healing, and tranquility, and, please God, a renewed restoration of faith in Jesus Christ, who never abandons us, especially in our darkest hours, and heals hurts where humanity fails.”
Last week’s settlement, approved by Judge Paul Warren of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York, comes six years after the Diocese filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. The Diocese’s 2019 bankruptcy filing followed a flood of sexual abuse lawsuits filed following the passage of the New York Child Victims Act, which gave those who claimed clerics abused them as children a one-year window to file a lawsuit without a statute of limitations.
The Diocese of Rochester is one of several Roman Catholic dioceses that have made headlines in recent years for paying massive settlements to survivors of clerical sexual abuse. A study published by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University earlier this year revealed that from 2004-2023, Catholic dioceses paid $5 billion in settlements to those harmed by acts of sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy.
The figure included in the Georgetown report does not include more recent settlements reached last year, such as the $323 million settlement reached between the New York-based Diocese of Rockville Centre and sexual abuse survivors last year and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreeing to pay $880 million to abuse survivors.
These agreements, along with the New York-based Diocese of Buffalo’s $150 million settlement with victims of clerical sexual abuse reached earlier this year, bring the total amount Catholic dioceses have paid in settlements with abuse survivors to over $6 billion.
Filing for bankruptcy to cover the costs of anticipated settlements, like the Diocese of Rochester did, is not unusual. Last year, the Diocese of Fresno filed for bankruptcy, and the Diocese of Sacramento took a similar course of action.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
