In a landmark decision, the Diocese of Rockville Centre in Long Island, New York, has agreed to a $323 million settlement with 530 survivors of child sexual abuse. This agreement, announced during a bankruptcy hearing on Thursday, marks the largest bankruptcy settlement by a Roman Catholic diocese in the United States. The settlement will address the liabilities of all parishes within the diocese. The Diocese of Rockville Centre, like others across the Catholic Church, consists of a wide geographical area under the oversight of a single bishop, while individual parishes operate as separate Catholic communities with their own churches.

Bankruptcy filings for parishes

As part of the settlement, each of the 135 parishes within the diocese will be required to file individual bankruptcy suits. This legal move will grant parishes protection from lawsuits in exchange for subjecting their assets and liabilities to court oversight, explained Corinne Ball, the diocese’s attorney. The settlement concludes four years of intense negotiations following hundreds of lawsuits accusing priests within the diocese of sexual abuse.

Judge praises the settlement

Martin Glenn, the bankruptcy judge overseeing the case, praised the agreement, calling it “enormous progress” in a long and complex legal process. The survivors had previously rejected a $200 million settlement offer from the diocese. Under the newly agreed terms, Rockville Centre will contribute $234.8 million to a settlement fund, with an additional $85.3 million coming from four insurance companies, according to Reuters.

Bankruptcy amid mounting legal costs

The diocese initially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2020, overwhelmed by mounting legal costs associated with the child sexual abuse lawsuits. The Rockville Centre case follows a broader trend of dioceses across the U.S. filing for bankruptcy in response to child sex abuse claims. In recent years, at least 24 U.S. dioceses have filed for bankruptcy after changes to the statute of limitations allowed survivors to sue for decades-old abuse.

A potential template for future cases

The Rockville Centre settlement could serve as a model for other dioceses facing similar legal and financial pressures. For instance, the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which filed for bankruptcy in May 2020, recently proposed a settlement of just $62.5 million to resolve its own child sex abuse cases, according to Reuters. As more survivors come forward and legal challenges continue, this case may set the standard for how the Catholic Church in the U.S. addresses the financial and moral repercussions of decades of sexual abuse within its ranks.