San Francisco Catholic church reaches $395 million sex abuse settlement

NEW YORK, June 29 - The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco on Monday announced a $395 million settlement with about 530 people who said they were abused as children by priests, a deal that would resolve the archdiocese's bankruptcy case.

It is the largest settlement reached in bankruptcy by any Catholic diocese. Before it becomes final, the deal must be approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali in San Francisco.

The Archdiocese, which serves nearly 450,000 Catholics in California's San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties, also committed to publish the names of priests who had been credibly accused of sexually abusing children and to adopt additional safeguards aimed at preventing future misconduct.

“We remain committed to the healing and care of survivors who have suffered because of past sins of Church ministers," San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a statement. "We pray for all survivors of sexual abuse, for our Archdiocese, parish communities and schools, and for the eradication of this shameful crime from our midst and from society as a whole.”

San Francisco's archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in 2023. More than two dozen Catholic dioceses have done the same in recent years, after California, New York and other states enacted laws that temporarily enabled victims of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits over decades-old crimes.

The settlement surpasses a $323 million bankruptcy deal reached by the diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island, New York, which was previously the largest bankruptcy settlement by a Catholic organization. The archdioceses of Los Angeles and New York reached larger sex abuse settlements in recent years, without filing for bankruptcy.

Steve Moreno, who served on a court-appointed committee of abuse survivors in bankruptcy, said that the deal was a positive step forward after years of litigation.

"No amount of money can erase the pain and shame associated with carrying the burden of my child abuse in silence for over 50 years," Moreno said in a statement. REUTERS