New York’s $800 million clergy abuse settlement offers an uncomfortable lesson for the Episcopal Church
The Archdiocese of New York has come to terms with roughly 1,300 survivors of clergy abuse and will pay around $800 million. It is one of the largest settlements ever by a Catholic archdiocese in America, and The Episcopal Church should take note.
As reported by the Associated Press, the settlement was reached on October 24. Only the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay more, with its $880 million settlement in 2024, and that came on top of roughly $740 million the LA archdiocese had already paid to other victims.
The deal hasn’t been signed yet. But we can safely assume, once again, that it took a lawsuit for a religious institution to learn accountability.
The settlement
Attorney Jeff Anderson, whose firm represents more than 250 claimants, said all of his clients have accepted the terms. Archbishop Ronald Hicks notified clergy by email that he had reached an agreement and hopes to have it signed by the end of the week of November 6.
The settlement follows a tentative agreement reached in May and a flood of lawsuits. Many of those suits would never have been allowed had New York not passed its Child Victims Act, which let survivors file civil claims until age 55 and reopened the courts for claims that had already expired.
Note the pattern. The archdiocese didn’t learn accountability on its own. It let its victims come forward, and when they did, those victims had to sue. Only then were they heard, rather than told that the matter had been handled and everyone should move on.
As part of the deal, the archdiocese reportedly will release information about accused abusers and allow victims to pursue claims against insurers that may cover church entities. Sometimes it takes money to learn accountability.
Eight hundred million dollars won’t undo the damage of child sexual abuse. But it’s a step in the right direction, and we’re fairly confident that without money on the line, the lesson would have taken considerably longer.
Title IV
If you’ve been reading us for a while, you know our stance on Title IV. It’s the system that is supposed to let us hold clergy accountable. The problem is that it drags on, and it generates more arguments about why something should or shouldn’t happen than actual decisions.
Bishop Prince Singh’s case took more than a year to reach an agreement. His former wife and sons said he abused them physically and emotionally. He received a three-year suspension, and if he fails to comply with the terms of his accord, he can be deposed. Not enough? Maybe. But that’s what Title IV gave us.
During the last election for presiding bishop, we learned that three of the five candidates had Title IV issues. We weren’t told until almost two weeks before the vote, and two of the complaints were still open. Disclosing it was the right call. The timing left something to be desired.
Bishop Rowe wants a churchwide Title IV pilot as part of his restructuring of the denomination. It may help. If Title IV can investigate on its own initiative and stand behind its findings, we might see real change. Until then, it’s just another department generating red tape.
It’s not just clergy
Much of the abuse that happens within the church isn’t committed by ordained clergy. Lay employees and volunteers can and do commit these acts, and Title IV does not apply to them. If a parish administrator or a youth volunteer abuses someone, Title IV is useless.
Yes, you can take them to criminal or civil court, depending on the situation. But whether your diocese catches these incidents in the first place is on the diocese. Every parish should have a process in place so that when someone comes forward, people know what to do. “We have Title IV” is not an answer when the accused isn’t ordained.
How long will it take?
Institutions can take years, or decades, to admit wrongdoing. With laws like New York’s Child Victims Act, they are now being hit with hundreds of millions of dollars for past conduct.
The Episcopal Church hasn’t seen anything like that. That doesn’t mean we’re doing everything right. There are many reasons one denomination gets sued and another doesn’t. But if someone needs help and can’t get it from you, what exactly are they supposed to do?
As we said above, waiting for them to take you to court isn’t an option.
So what now?
We hope the Archdiocese of New York gets this deal signed by November 6, and that it follows through on what it promised survivors.
We hope Title IV starts working faster and producing decisions we can actually stand behind. Bishop Rowe can only do so much. Each diocese has to learn from these mistakes on its own.
We’re not lumping The Episcopal Church in with the Catholic Church and saying we’re all doing the same things. Nor do we claim that everyone who comes forward with an allegation is telling the truth. We simply want the church to be accountable to the people it has hurt.
If that means spending hundreds of millions of dollars, then that’s what it means.
We have to learn accountability before the courts teach it to us.
1 thought on “New York’s $800 million clergy abuse settlement offers an uncomfortable lesson for the Episcopal Church”
Institutions like The Episcopal Church have a secondary concern. There are many lawyers and their staff who have spent the last dozen years learning the nuances of sexual abuse within churches.
While it may take years for these payouts to be made, many of these firms are on much sounder financial footing. They are in a position to take on new cases that might have been seen as too high-risk before.
Institutions like The Episcopal Church have a secondary concern. There are many lawyers and their staff who have spent the last dozen years learning the nuances of sexual abuse within churches.
While it may take years for these payouts to be made, many of these firms are on much sounder financial footing. They are in a position to take on new cases that might have been seen as too high-risk before.