Buffalo Diocese reaches 'settlement in principle' in bankruptcy case

(OSV News) -- The Diocese of Buffalo has reached a potential agreement with abuse survivors five years after filing for bankruptcy.

In an April 22 letter to the faithful, Bishop Michael W. Fisher announced the diocese and its Chapter 11 creditors' committee had agreed to "the material terms of a settlement in principle."

The planned $150 million payout does not include contributions from insurance companies, with which the diocese is in "active mediation" to determine a final amount, diocesan communications director Joe Martone told OSV News.

The pool of funds "will be derived from unrestricted funds of the Diocese, and undetermined amounts from individual parishes from their unrestricted funds, and also contributions from members of Catholic affiliates," the diocese said in an April 22 statement.

Martone confirmed to OSV News the diocese is facing "approximately 891 cases," making for "one of the highest caseloads in the country."

In its February 2020 bankruptcy filing, the diocese had anticipated that "in excess of 400 individuals" might seek redress for alleged abuse.

All of the claims had been brought under the Child Victims Act, or CVA, which was passed by the New York Senate and signed into law in 2019.

The CVA extended the state's former statute of limitations by granting a one-year look back for time-barred civil claims to be revived, giving survivors until age 28 to press charges for felonies and age 25 for misdemeanors, and allowing survivors up to age 55 to bring lawsuits.

The diocese said in its statement that the settlement amount "remains subject to a creditor vote and court approval," adding that the creditors' committee "is comprised entirely of individuals who themselves survived sexual abuse" by diocesan clergy, religious, staff and volunteers.

Bishop Fisher also noted in his letter that "there remain a number of important considerations still to be addressed, such as the timing of payment, as well as the exact sources for gathering the settlement funds."

Still, he said, the settlement in principle "represents an essential milestone on this protracted and arduous journey, and importantly, enables us to finally provide a measure of financial restitution to victim-survivors, which has been our primary objective all along.

The $150 million diocesan contribution is "indeed a steep sum," he said, but "no amount of money can undo the tremendous harm and suffering they (victim-survivors) have endured, or eliminate the lingering mental, emotional, and spiritual pain they have been forced to carry throughout their lives."

To date, six of New York's eight Roman Catholic dioceses have filed for bankruptcy, with the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn so far avoiding Chapter 11 proceedings.

Along with the Diocese of Buffalo, bankruptcy filings for the Albany, Ogdensburg and Rochester are in process.

The Diocese of Syracuse announced in 2023 that it had reached a settlement, which had to be revised after a Supreme Court ruling impacted creditor consent for non-debtor releases in Chapter 11 cases. The new plan, which survivors have overwhelmingly backed, will be considered in court later this month.

In 2024, the Diocese of Rockville Centre reached a $323 million settlement with survivors.

OSV News found that since 2002 -- the year in which the U.S. Catholic bishops adopted their "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" -- the nation's dioceses have paid at least $5.6 billion in abuse settlements and related costs.

Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina.