The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany has agreed to pay $148 million to settle claims from some 440 people sexually abused by priests and diocesan employees and volunteers.
In a statement, Bishop Mark O’Connell said while the settlement is substantial, “it cannot adequately compensate the survivors for the horrors they experienced.” He added that the settlement can “hopefully provide some solace to all those affected by the pain caused by the perpetrators and the failings of those who could have intervened but did not.”
The settlement comes after child abuse survivors were allowed to file sexual abuse lawsuits as part of a look-back window created by the 2019 New York Child Victims Act. Survivors are also claimants in an ongoing federal bankruptcy case after the Albany diocese filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023.
Then-Bishop Edward Scharfenberger told reporters when announcing the bankruptcy filings that the diocese “doesn’t see any other alternative” after settling 50 child sexual abuse case, and still struggling to settle over 400 more.
Calling the deal announced Friday “an important first step in forming a chapter 11 plan” to help the diocese exit bankruptcy, the church made the settlement announcement with the Official Committee of Tort Claimants.
According to the diocese, the committee is entirely made up of survivors of child sexual abuse in the local Catholic community.
The settlement is still subject to a vote by abuse survivors and will need court approval. Jeff Anderson, whose law firm represented 186 victims, noted in a press release that the agreement does not include contributions by the diocese’s insurance providers. But, negotiations directly with them will continue.
“Insurers have consistently denied, delayed, and evaded responsibility,” Anderson said in the firm’s release. “These tactics are not isolated; they are part of a broader pattern seen across New York and the country. We will continue to stand with survivors in Albany and fight for justice.”
The Albany diocese said parishes will contribute $50 million, primarily from parish savings.
Albany attorney Cynthia LaFave, whose firm represented victims alongside Anderson’s, said the settlement is about more than money.
“It is also a public acknowledgement of the harm these survivors endured at the hands of the diocese and its trusted leaders,” she said. “While no amount of money can undo the trauma they endured, this settlement proves that the survivors’ voices matter and that the diocese must confront its failures and take responsibility.”
Anderson noted that Albany is the fifth New York dioceses to reach a settlement with survivors. Among the state’s Roman Catholic diocese, only the Archdiocese of New York and Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens have not filed for bankruptcy since the Child Victims Act took effect.
The diocese and committee said they still need to work out child protection protocols, but the diocese said conversations so far have been fruitful.
“I have been diligently checking that we're up to protocol,” Bishop O’Connell, who was installed in December, said Friday. “I think the non-monetary parts of this are to make sure that we were doing that. And I think as the new bishop of Albany, that's what I'm doing anyway, is making sure that all requirements of the law in the church and the charter and the norms are fulfilled.”
