New York Sets $300M Fund as New Orleans Approves $230M Abuse Settlement

The Archdiocese of New York announced on Monday that it will establish a $300 million fund to compensate survivors of clergy sexual abuse, amid ongoing lawsuits from roughly 1,300 victims, while a federal judge in New Orleans approved a $230 million settlement for hundreds of victims in a related case involving that city's archdiocese.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, leader of the New York Archdiocese, outlined the initiative in a public statement, explaining that the fund would be financed through budget reductions and asset sales, including the completion of a deal to sell the archdiocese's former headquarters on First Avenue in Manhattan. The archdiocese has also enlisted retired Judge Daniel J. Buckley as a mediator to facilitate negotiations with victims' representatives. Buckley previously served in a similar capacity for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, where he helped broker a settlement with more than 1,000 survivors. A church spokesperson expressed optimism that the fund could address most, if not all, of the pending claims, many stemming from abuse by priests and lay staff decades ago.

Dolan acknowledged the church's past failures in his statement, writing, "As we have...