SETTLEMENT REACHED

Diocese of Albany, church entities to pay survivors of abuse $148 million

Just over three years to the date after filing for Chapter 11 protection under the crush of nearly 440 Child Victims Act claims, the Diocese of Albany has reached a $148 million settlement agreement with the survivors of sexual abuse by diocesan priests and others.

“As the Bishop of Albany, I want to say a clear and unnuanced statement of guilt on the part of the Diocese in its handling of our predator priests and others within the Diocese,” Bishop Mark O’Connell said in a Letter to the Faithful on March 27. “It is a shameful chapter in our history and no monetary settlement such as the one reached today will erase the pain caused to survivors. On behalf of the Diocese of Albany, I apologize and promise to work diligently to prevent anything like this from occurring again. I will make myself and my staff available to you all going forward, including continuing to offer our counseling services and pastoral care.” 

The agreement will provide payment to victims/survivors for acts perpetrated against them by clergy, religious, lay employees and volunteers of the Diocese. Although the settlement amount remains subject to a creditor vote and court approval, the amount has been accepted by the Tort Committee, which is a group of individuals who survived sexual abuse when they were children by clergy members and employees within the Diocese. The Diocese and the committee believe that this settlement is an important first step in forming a plan that will lead to the Diocese’s exit from Chapter 11.

Of the $148 million, $50 million will come from the parishes and the rest from the Diocese and its entities, known as the “Catholic family,” which includes The Evangelist. The Parish Steering Committee, co-chaired by Father James Walsh, pastor of St. Pius X in Loudonville, and Deacon Gregg Wilbur, diocesan chief financial, has calculated how much each parish is being requested to commit based on factors such as parish savings, debt and offertory. The committee has met with parish leaders and trustees of 40 parishes to date and will meet with the remaining parishes after Holy Week and Easter. Parishes are encouraged to be as transparent as possible in discussing the requested figure with parish leaders as well as those in the pews. Whatever the requested amount is on a parish-by-parish basis, that amount can be appealed to Bishop O’Connell.

This figure does not include contributions from the insurance companies that provided coverage to the Diocese. Negotiations are continuing with the insurance carriers with the goal of achieving what is known as the “global settlement,” which would pool money from the Diocese and the insurance carriers. 

The agreement also includes ongoing discussions about enhanced child protection protocols that will add to robust measures already in place to protect young parishioners, students and other vulnerable individuals within the Diocese under the Office of Safe Environment. In a statement, the Diocese added that “the discussions on child protection have been productive, collaborative and extensive and Bishop O’Connell has been personally engaged throughout the process.”

The groups are expected to announce these enhanced measures soon.

“This settlement marks a significant step toward the conclusion of this bankruptcy case and closure for all survivors who have lived with this pain throughout their lives.” said John Ciota and Rick Salamone, co-chairs of the Tort Committee. “The Tort Committee wants to express its gratitude to each survivor involved in this case and assure all survivors that it is working to achieve the best result for them. The Tort Committee looks forward to working further with the Diocese to enhance its child protection protocols and with the Diocese’s insurers to reach a global settlement of survivor claims.”

A question on many people’s minds is where does this leave the St. Clare’s pensioners. On Dec. 12, 2025, the Diocese was found not directly liable for the collapse of the St. Clare’s pension fund, but individual defendants, Bishop Emeritus Edward B. Scharfenberger, the estate of the late Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, the estate of the late Father David LeFort, St. Clare’s Corporation, former St. Clare’s president Joseph Poft and former St. Clare’s CEO Robert Perry, were found directly at fault. The jury awarded the 1,100 pensioners $54.2 million.

In his Letter to the Faithful, Bishop O’Connell said, “work remains to be done to address the claims of the St. Clare’s pensioners. As many know, a jury verdict concluded that the Diocese of Albany had no historic fiduciary responsibility for St. Clare's Hospital or its pension plan and, therefore, the Diocese of Albany was deemed not directly responsible for the losses incurred by the pension plan. The court's decision finding the Diocese responsible for the acts of others in managing the pension fund is under appeal and we await the court's decision.”

Friday’s announcement is a giant step forward in a painful chapter in the Diocese of Albany. On Aug. 15, 2019, the Child Victims Act (CVA) —  which expanded the statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases, allowing victims to file civil lawsuits until age 55, extended criminal prosecution limits until age 28, and included a “look-back window” which allows lawsuits against abusers and institutions for past abuse — went into effect. During the two-year window to file claims, the Diocese was named in nearly 440 claims. After failed attempts at mediation, which started in 2022, between lawyers representing victims/survivors and those representing the Diocese, the Diocese filed for bankruptcy on March 15, 2023, as Bishop Scharfenberger said at the time that it was the “best way, at this point, to ensure that all victims/survivors with pending CVA litigation will receive some compensation.”

During his introductory press conference on Oct. 20, 2025, Bishop O’Connell said of the diocesan bankruptcy, “In the midst of bankruptcy, there is shame and there is sadness, but there is also a chance to acknowledge sinfulness and continue to reach out and love those that have been so terribly hurt. 

“There is an opportunity in bankruptcy that the church is better, stronger when we do this. In the midst of division in the world, we have the opportunity to build bridges of faith. In the midst of suspicion, we have an opportunity to gain trust.”

Every diocese in the state has either filed for bankruptcy or is in mediation due to the CVA cases. On Feb. 25, the Diocese of Syracuse, which filed for bankruptcy in June 2020, announced it was funding a victims’ trust with more than $176 million to settle claims. Of the $176 million figure, $76.1 million will be provided by insurance and $100 million will come from parishes ($45 million), the diocese itself ($50 million) and other diocesan entities ($5 million). The diocese faced 411 claims from abuse survivors brought under the state’s CVA and the Adult Survivors Act, which was enacted in May 2022 and allowed a one-year period starting on Nov. 24, 2022 for victims of sexual abuse in which the statute of limitations had lapsed to file civil suits.

The Syracuse diocese also sheds some light on what the timeframe could be like going forward for the Diocese of Albany. Like the Diocese did today, on July 27, 2023, the Diocese of Syracuse and the official Committee of Unsecured Creditors announced that they had reached a settlement agreement. Over two years later, on Aug. 27, 2025, the court accepted Syracuse’s plan. On Jan. 26, 2026, the diocese transferred $100 million to the fund and on Feb. 2, the judge approved the final decree.

As for the other dioceses in the state, on Feb. 12, 2026, the Diocese of Brooklyn announced it was entering into mediation to resolve some 1,100 sexual abuse claims. 

On Dec. 8, 2025, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan announced that the Archdiocese of New York would be entering into mediation and taking steps to raise more than $300 million for sexual abuse settlements. The archdiocese confirmed to OSV News that the money raised would go toward settlements with the 1,300 outstanding claims made by people who have said they were sexually abused by clergy and laypeople of the archdiocese.

On Sept. 5, 2025, the Diocese of Rochester’s bankruptcy ended after a judge signed an order closing the case and establishing a $256.35 million settlement fund for abuse survivors. Of the settlement amount, $55 million will be funded by contributions from the Diocese of Rochester and its affiliated entities and the remaining amount will be funded by insurers.

On June 9, 2025, the Diocese of Buffalo announced that parishes will pay a total of $80 million into the diocese’s $150 million bankruptcy settlement,. Of that $150 million, the diocese will also directly pay $30 million, with its affiliated Catholic organizations contributing $10 million, and real estate sales covering the remainder. The announcement will resolve the nearly five-year-long proceedings, which began in 2020 to address what now amounts to “approximately 891 cases” — making for “one of the highest caseloads in the country,” diocesan communications director Joe Martone told OSV News.

In 2024, the Diocese of Rockville Centre reached a $323 million settlement with survivors, and the Diocese of Ogdensburg, which filed for bankruptcy on July 17, 2023,  has its case still ongoing. 

Information from OSV News and other sources was used to supplement this report.