US Catholic diocese seeks to settle 1,100 child sex abuse cases

The Diocese of Brooklyn wants to resolve the issue out of court to avoid “emotional strain for victim-survivors”

The Diocese of Brooklyn, which has already paid over $100 million to victims, has announced that it will pursue a “global resolution” to settle the remaining 1,100 child sexual abuse lawsuits levied against its Catholic priests and staffers.

In a letter on Thursday, Bishop of Brooklyn Robert Brennan wrote that the diocese will begin “cost-cutting and setting aside significant funds to compensate victim-survivors.”

“The process of marshalling these funds entails difficult financial choices, but the Diocese is committed to fairly compensating all meritorious claims,” he said. He claimed that the victims’ attorneys agreed that settling out of court will save “time, expense, and emotional strain for victim-survivors that would be caused by individual trials.”

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The settlement is expected to be a huge financial blow, forcing the diocese to sell real estate to muster what is likely to be hundreds of millions of dollars, the New York Post wrote on Thursday.

The diocese has already paid over 500 sexual abuse survivors more than $100 million under its Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, which began in 2017. None of the payouts have nor will come from parishioners’ donations, Brennan wrote.

Brennan’s ecclesiastical district serves 1.3 million Catholics across Brooklyn and Queens in New York. Most of the lawsuits date back to the 1960s and 1970s.

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In December, the neighboring Archdiocese of New York, which oversees the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, agreed to pay out $300 million to compensate 1,300 people who have accused its clergy and staff of sexual abuse.