The Diocese of Syracuse, New York, has reached a $100 million settlement with parishioners who claimed they were victimized by priests, the largest payment ever made by a Roman Catholic diocese in the US since at least 2018.
But for now, not a penny of that money comes from the six insurance companies that cover the Diocese of Syracuse, lawyers involved in the case said Friday.
Instead, as part of its bankruptcy proceedings, the diocese itself will have to shell out $50 million, parishes in the diocese will have to contribute $45 million, and other entities aligned with the diocese will pay $5 million to resolve the 411 abuse claims filed by 387 people, the lawyers said.
This means that when ushers pass out collection baskets at Sunday Mass at churches in the Diocese of Syracuse, some of that money could be used to pay victims, confirmed Danielle Cummings, a spokeswoman for the diocese.
“People give money to parishes in the general collection,” Cummings said. “And unless they specify that this donation will go to a special project, yes, it could end up going towards the settlement.”
That said, Cummings added, the diocese intends to “go after our insurers” as it seeks funding to pay for the diocese’s portion of the settlement.
Additionally, individual parishes may have to tap into their savings and investments, Cumming said.
“State insurers have denied, delayed and evaded their obligations,” previously said in a statement attorney Jeff Anderson, who represented victims of sexual abuse by priests. “It is yet another example of their nefarious strategies employed across New York State and the nation.”
Attorney Cynthia LaFave, who worked on the case with Anderson, and another attorney involved in the settlement who spoke in the background, said the Diocese of Syracuse had insurance designed to protect the church from sexual abuse lawsuits.
Democratic Rep. Stacey Travers has introduced a bill that seeks to encourage priests in Catholic churches to report confessions related to crimes.
But because they are still negotiating a final agreement with the diocese, LaFave said he couldn’t identify these insurers.
“Yes, they have had insurance over the years, in fact, they have multiple insurers,” LaFave told NBC News. “But we’re not allowed to discuss that while we’re in the middle of discussing a deal.”
In a statement, the diocese said insurance companies have yet to reach an agreement with the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which is a body designated by the federal government representing the interests of the victims.
“As we recently completed our third year of mediation, the mediator assigned to the case did not include the insurance companies in this proposal, as they have yet to agree on coverage issues with the Committee of Creditors,” the statement said. . “The mediator’s priority was to reach an agreement with the Diocese and its entities first and then go after the insurers.”
In an open letter to his flock on Thursday, Bishop Douglas Lucia acknowledged that the agreement will be a major effort for his diocese.
“I can tell you that while the settlement amount may seem shocking to the leaders of our own parishes and Catholic entities, more appalling and heartbreaking to me is the pain and mistreatment experienced by survivors of child and adult sexual abuse at the hands of those who they thought they could trust,” Lucía wrote. “I cannot apologize enough for the abuse that occurred or for any negligence in treating it. That is why the final agreement will include commitments aimed at strengthening our safe environment protocols to ensure that the past does not repeat itself.”
Kevin Braney, chairman of the Official Committee on Unsecured Creditors and a survivor of sexual assault, said the settlement is a “significant step in the recovery process.”
“I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my fellow survivors and their families for their resilience as they patiently awaited this news,” Braney said. in a statement to local media.
The proposed settlement, which still requires court and creditor approval, appears to be the largest in the US since the $210 million settlement reached in 2018 by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and 400 survivors of sexual assault.
But $170 million of that money was paid by the insurance companies of the Minnesota archdioceses, according to news versions of that time.
He largest sex abuse deal of Roman Catholic priests yet in the US occurred in July 2007, when the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay $660 million to 508 victims.
Two months later, the Diocese of San Diego agreed in September 2007 to pay nearly $200 million to 144 abused priests, according to news reports.
Those payments were expected to be paid through a combination of the church’s cash and insurance.
The Diocese of Syracuse filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020 after the state of New York temporarily suspended its statute of limitations to give people who claimed to have been sexually abused the opportunity to sue for damages.
Five of the other seven Roman Catholic dioceses in New York state also sought bankruptcy protection after they were inundated with lawsuits filed by victims of predatory priests.
This story first appeared in nbcnews.com.
