The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany has agreed to pay $148 million to settle claims filed by more than 400 people who allege they were sexually abused as children by priests and other diocesan employees during assaults that date back decades.
The proposed settlement, which follows years of grueling negotiations, was announced by the diocese and a law firm that represents almost 200 of the plaintiffs who have filed sexual abuse cases and are also claimants in the diocese’s ongoing bankruptcy case.
The agreement must still be approved by the victims as well as a federal bankruptcy judge. It does not include the diocese’s insurance carriers, some of whom have asserted they are not responsible to pay for what they allege was criminal behavior that went on for years with the knowledge of church leaders.
“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, who was installed as the diocese’s leader in December, said in a statement. “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 be exceedingly diligent in my time in Albany to prevent anything like this occurring again.”
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