Catholic Church Abuse Settlements: Totals, Bankruptcies, and Payouts

Catholic Church abuse settlements in the United States have topped $5 billion since 2004 and likely exceed $6 billion once the most recent agreements are counted, according to a January 2025 report from Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 2025 annual report.¹² The Archdiocese of Los Angeles alone agreed in October 2024 to pay $880 million to settle 1,353 claims, the largest single clergy abuse settlement in U.S. history.³

How Much Has Been Paid Overall

The Georgetown study tallied $5.025 billion in abuse-related spending by U.S. dioceses and religious orders from 2004 through 2023. Three-quarters went directly to victims. Attorneys’ fees consumed 17 percent, support for accused offenders 6 percent, and other costs 2 percent. Insurance covered only about 16 percent of the total on average, leaving the Church to pay the rest from its own assets.¹

The pace is accelerating. In the fiscal year ending June 2025, dioceses and eparchies spent nearly $390 million on abuse-related costs, a 61 percent jump over the prior year. Add religious communities and the annual figure reached roughly $484 million.²⁴

Individual payouts vary widely. One analysis put the overall average at roughly $268,000 per victim, though awards run from five figures to well over $1 million depending on the severity of abuse, evidence of institutional cover-up, and the state where the claim was filed.⁵

The Largest Individual Settlements

A handful of dioceses account for much of the money paid. Los Angeles sits at the top by a wide margin. The October 2024 agreement to resolve 1,353 claims for $880 million, combined with roughly $740 million in earlier payouts, has cost the archdiocese more than $1.5 billion over two decades. It funded the settlements by selling real estate, liquidating investments, and taking out loans.³⁶

Other major settlements include:

The Archdiocese of New York proposed an $800 million settlement in May 2026 to resolve about 1,300 claims filed under the state’s Child Victims Act. To raise the first $300 million, the archdiocese sold its former Manhattan headquarters for more than $100 million, cut its operating budget by 10 percent, and laid off employees. The deal needs unanimous acceptance from claimants to avoid a bankruptcy filing.⁷⁸
The Archdiocese of New Orleans reached a settlement of at least $230 million in December 2025 for more than 500 survivors, resolving a bankruptcy filed in 2020.⁹
The Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York confirmed a $323 million plan in December 2024 and had fully funded it by late 2025. Roughly 99 percent of voting claimants accepted the plan, and the trust has begun distributing payments.¹⁰¹¹
The Diocese of San Diego paid $198 million in 2007 to resolve 144 claims, then filed for bankruptcy again in 2024 after roughly 400 new lawsuits were filed under California’s expanded statute of limitations.⁹
The Archdiocese of Boston’s $85 million settlement in 2003 with more than 500 victims first put the crisis on the national stage, though later agreements have dwarfed it.¹²
The Diocese of Syracuse closed its bankruptcy in February 2026 after funding a $176 million victims’ trust. The Diocese of Camden contributed $180 million to a compensation trust that same month, and the Diocese of Albany announced a $148 million settlement in March 2026.¹³

Dioceses Still in Bankruptcy

When settlement demands outstrip a diocese’s ability to pay, Chapter 11 has become a common path. The Archdiocese of Portland was the first to file, in 2004, and the pace has picked up sharply in the mid-2020s as new state laws revived old claims.

Several major cases remained unresolved as of mid-2026:

The Diocese of Oakland filed Chapter 11 in 2023 after more than 300 lawsuits. In June 2026 it proposed a $180 million abuse fund, but survivors demanded $314 million. A federal bankruptcy judge allowed six bellwether cases to proceed to trial to help gauge potential outcomes.¹⁴¹⁵
The Archdiocese of Baltimore faces more than 900 survivors seeking approximately $900 million. In April 2026, Hartford Insurance Group agreed to pay $100 million and buy back its policies, but the survivors’ committee called the proposed total inadequate. Both sides have filed competing reorganization plans, with a potential vote possible in August 2026.¹⁶¹⁷
The Diocese of El Paso filed in March 2026 facing 18 lawsuits alleging abuse in southern New Mexico between 1956 and 1982. Bishop Mark Seitz said the diocese’s resources were “very limited” and bankruptcy was the “only viable path to fairly compensate victims.” A claims deadline of September 11, 2026, has been set.¹⁸¹⁹
The Diocese of Buffalo is approaching its sixth year in bankruptcy with no resolution, and the Diocese of Burlington in Vermont is nearly two years in, with $2 million in legal fees accrued and no finalized plan.¹³

Why New Claims Keep Coming

Much of the recent litigation surge traces to state legislatures loosening or eliminating time limits on child sexual abuse claims. At least 19 states have abolished civil statutes of limitations for childhood sexual abuse entirely, letting victims file suit at any age. Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Nevada, Utah, and Vermont are among those with no time limit.²⁰

Other states have created temporary “lookback windows” that revive expired claims. New York’s 2019 Child Victims Act generated more than 1,300 claims against the Archdiocese of New York alone and hundreds more against other dioceses in the state. California’s Assembly Bill 218 opened a three-year revival window starting in 2020, triggering the wave of filings in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Oakland. In 2025, Maryland eliminated its civil statute of limitations for child sexual abuse claims, and Texas extended its limit to 20 years after the victim’s 18th birthday.²¹

These revival laws are not settled everywhere. State supreme courts in Maine and New Hampshire ruled that reviving expired claims is unconstitutional, while courts in North Carolina, Maryland, and Louisiana upheld similar laws. The question turns on whether an expired statute of limitations gives a defendant a “vested right” against suit, and different state constitutions have produced different answers.²²

Insurance Fights Slowing Settlements

Insurance disputes have become a second front in the crisis, complicating and sometimes stalling agreements. Dioceses that bought liability policies decades ago argue those policies should cover abuse claims; insurers counter that sexual abuse by clergy was intentional conduct outside coverage.

The most public fight is between the Archdiocese of New York and Chubb. The archdiocese accuses Chubb of refusing to honor policies despite collecting millions in premiums, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan alleged the insurer was trying to push the archdiocese into bankruptcy. In April 2026 a New York court ruled that Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg must sit for a deposition, rejecting the company’s attempt to shield him from questioning about the coverage denial and potential bad faith. The dispute is a key obstacle to finalizing the $800 million New York settlement.²³²⁴

In Baltimore, Hartford’s $100 million agreement covers only a portion of what survivors are seeking, and no other insurers have settled. In Rockville Centre, the diocese used a policy “buy-back” approach, with insurance contributing roughly $85 million of the $323 million total.¹¹

How the Money Is Raised and Reaches Survivors

Paying billions has forced dioceses to reshape their operations. They have sold headquarters buildings, closed schools, liquidated investments, and cut staff. The Archdiocese of New York sold its First Avenue headquarters for more than $100 million and cut its operating budget by 10 percent. In San Diego, an attorney alleged the diocese transferred 291 properties worth more than $450 million to individual parishes before the abuse lawsuits hit; the diocese said the transfers reflected longstanding canon law treating parish property as separate from diocesan property.²⁵²⁶

Once a settlement is reached, plaintiffs’ attorneys or an independent trust handle allocation to individual survivors, not the diocese. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles stated it has no role in dividing the $880 million among its 1,353 claimants.²⁷ In bankruptcy cases such as Rockville Centre and New Orleans, courts appoint claims administrators who review filings, maintain confidentiality, and distribute payments according to criteria approved by the bankruptcy judge. The process is slow. In many cases, survivors wait years between filing a claim and receiving payment.

1
National Catholic Reporter. More Than $5 Billion Spent on Catholic Sexual Abuse Allegations, New Report Finds
2
Angelus News. USCCB Youth Protection Report
3
Los Angeles Times. Archdiocese of Los Angeles to Pay $880 Million in Clergy Sexual Abuse Settlement
4
Catholic Culture. Abuse Costs Rise 82 Percent
5
OSV News. 20 Years of Abuse Settlements for U.S. Catholic Dioceses Exceeds $5 Billion Total
6
Archdiocese of Los Angeles. LA Archdiocese to Settle More Than 1,300 Historic Abuse Claims
7
National Catholic Reporter. Archdiocese of New York Proposes $800 Million Settlement
8
NY1. Catholic Archdiocese Clergy Abuse Settlement
9
U.S. News & World Report. A List of the Largest Clergy Abuse Settlements
10
KCIC. Rockville Centre Diocese Post-Purdue Chapter 11 Reorganization
11
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12
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13
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14
Law360. Oakland Diocese Seeks OK for $180M Abuse Fund Ch. 11 Plan
15
SNAP Network. Oakland Diocese, Abuse Victims Far Apart in Settlement Talks
16
WBAL-TV. Insurer to Pay $100M to Settle Archdiocese of Baltimore Abuse Claims
17
Baltimore Survivors. Archdiocese of Baltimore Bankruptcy Case
18
Diocese of El Paso. Statement From Bishop Mark on Chapter 11
19
SNAP Network. Judge Sets Deadline for El Paso Diocese Abuse Claims
20
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21
CHILD USA. 2025 SOL Tracker
22
State Court Report. State High Courts Split on Laws Letting Survivors of Sexual Abuse Sue
23
Insurance Journal. Chubb Loses Bid to Stop New York Archdiocese From Deposing CEO
24
Business Insurance. Chubb CEO Can Be Deposed in Archdiocese Dispute Over Abuse Claims
25
The Guardian. New York Archdiocese Fundraising for Abuse Claims
26
NBC San Diego. San Diego Catholic Diocese Transferred Properties
27
Archdiocese of Los Angeles. AB 218 FAQs