The Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo agreed to a provisional settlement of $150 million with more than 800 victims of sexual abuse, a lawyer for dozens of the accusers said on Tuesday, bringing one of New York’s most embattled and scandal-plagued dioceses closer to resolving years of legal wrangling.
Bishop Michael W. Fisher of Buffalo said in a statement on Tuesday that the total amount “remains subject to a creditor vote and court approval,” but he hailed the proposal as “an essential milestone on this protracted and arduous journey” that “enables us to finally provide a measure of financial restitution to victim-survivors.”
“While indeed a steep sum, no amount of money can undo the tremendous harm and suffering the victim-survivors have endured, or eliminate the lingering mental, emotional and spiritual pain they have been forced to carry throughout their lives,” he added.
The scale of the misconduct by both clergy members and their supporters in the Diocese of Buffalo — which is home to about 600,000 Catholics in New York’s second largest city — was striking in scope.
The public saga began as nationwide concern about clergy sex abuse reached a new peak in 2018 and led to the passage the following year of the Child Victims Act in New York, which allowed abuse survivors to sue regardless of whether the statute of limitations had expired. The law led to a flood of lawsuits in Buffalo and across the state.
In 2019, a former assistant to Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo came forward to claim that the bishop kept secret files detailing the activities of abusive priests. The whistle-blower, Siobhan O’Connor, said the bishop was misleading the public about allegations that had been made against priests who continued to serve in active ministry.
Her claims were backed up when a second whistle-blower leaked secret recordings that showed Bishop Malone fretting about his reputation and expressing reluctance to penalize a parish priest he referred to as “dangerous” and “a sick puppy.”
Bishop Malone resigned not long after, as his diocese was pummeled by hundreds of lawsuits and investigations by both the F.B.I. and the state attorney general. The lawsuits forced the Buffalo diocese to file bankruptcy in 2020, joining three other Roman Catholic dioceses in New York that had already done so: Rochester, Syracuse and Rockville Centre on Long Island.
Just weeks before the bankruptcy filing, the Buffalo diocese was rocked by another scandal when federal agents arrested a professor at the diocesan seminary who had been accused of stalking Ms. O’Connor and threatening to kill a journalist who had spoken to her. The professor, Paul E. Lubienecki, was convicted in 2021, and the seminary, Christ the King Seminary, was later closed and sold.
Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer who represents 43 accusers, expressed optimism over the settlement on Tuesday. But he noted the agreement existed “in principle” and may not be finalized for another six to 18 months.
In addition to awaiting approval from the diocese’s insurance companies, Mr. Garabedian said the plaintiffs were still negotiating over the potential release of secret church files that bishops kept on priests accused of sexual abuse.
“There are certain legal hoops to go through,” he said. “We haven’t obtained the documents containing non-monetary damages, the diocese’s insurance companies could object, there could be hearings and objections which might be upheld or denied. It is complicated.”
On Tuesday, Richard Brownell, 67, one of the plaintiffs represented by Mr. Garabedian, said news of the provisional settlement had provided a measure of much-needed peace to abuse survivors.
“We have gotten to the point where we really need to bring closure to survivors because the victims are still suffering,” said Mr. Brownell, who said he was abused in the 1970s by a priest who had been introduced to him by his grandmother, who worked in the parish rectory.
“I was a victim, and it was facilitated by my parish,” said Mr. Brownell. “Just the thought of it makes me sick, and it changed the whole trajectory of my life and how I raised my family.”
Liam Stack is a Times reporter who covers the culture and politics of the New York City region.
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