Bankruptcy – United Yam

New York Diocese of Ogdensburg will pay million to sex abuse victims #Catholic The Diocese of Ogdensburg, New York, will pay out million to abuse victims, part of a yearslong bankruptcy process that began after dozens of sex abuse cases were filed against it. The diocese said in a May 19 statement that the diocesan administration, along with “parishes, schools, and other Catholic entities,” would contribute into the settlement, which would be organized as a “survivor trust.” “Once the plan is confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court, the million contributed to the survivor trust … will be available for distribution to survivors of sexual abuse perpetrated against them by clergy, religious, lay employees, and volunteers,” the diocese said. Ogdensburg Bishop Terry LaValley prayed that the settlement “will bring peace and healing to all survivors and to all the faithful whose hearts were broken by the gravely sinful conduct of Church leaders.”“The great harm that has been caused by this sinful behavior must never be allowed to happen again,“ he said. ”It is my sincere hope that this process has brought the survivors some comfort and peace.”The diocese "is committed to ensuring the safety of all persons entrusted to our care,” the bishop said. The New York-based law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates said in a May 19 press release that the diocese and abuse victims “will continue negotiations regarding significant nonmonetary provisions,” including “enhancements to child protection policies and the public disclosure of information related to clergy and other personnel accused of sexual abuse.”The Ogdensburg Diocese filed for bankruptcy in July 2023, the sixth diocese in New York state to do so. The bankruptcy filing came as the diocese was facing dozens of abuse lawsuits filed under the stateʼs 2019 Child Victims Act, which significantly expanded the window in which abuse victims could file lawsuits against abusers and institutions. At the time of the bankruptcy filing, LaValley said dealing with the lawsuits on a case-by-case basis would be “slow” and “unpredictable.” “Reorganization ensures that each survivor receives just compensation," the bishop said at the time. "It eliminates a race to the courthouse in which the earliest cases settled or brought to judgment could exhaust the resources available to pay claims, leaving nothing for victims whose cases are resolved later."Earlier this month it was announced that the Archdiocese of New York would pay 0 million into an abuse settlement there, with the amount covering around 1,300 victims who also filed under the state Child Victims Act.

unitedyam May 20, 2026May 20, 2026

The diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2023 after nearly 150 sex abuse lawsuits were filed against it.

Archdiocese of Baltimore proposes nearly $170 million settlement for abuse victims #Catholic The Archdiocese of Baltimore is proposing nearly $170 million in compensation for abuse victims amid its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings there.A May 15 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court revealed that the archdiocese would contribute just under $44 million to an abuse settlement for survivors, while “settling insurers” would pay a total of $125 million into the fund.The insurance amount represents a 25% increase from an earlier proposed contribution of $100 million.In a statement on the filing, the archdiocese said the overall plan “seeks to provide equitable compensation to survivors while sustaining the Church’s mission and ministries.”The proposal “reflects a commitment to transparency and a realistic assessment of available resources,” it said. The archdiocese noted that “no final agreement has yet been achieved.” The proposal would also establish a “Survivor Compensation Trust” to “evaluate claims and distribute compensation to survivors.”The archdiocese “will continue to listen, to learn, and to seek a resolution that honors the dignity of survivors and strengthens the mission of the Church for generations to come,” the statement said. In 2024 the Baltimore Archdiocese sued multiple insurers over what it claimed was a failure to pay abuse claims for which the insurers were contractually obligated.U.S. dioceses in recent years have frequently turned to insurers to help cover major abuse settlements, though insurers have at times challenged claims from dioceses on the grounds that their insurance policies did not cover instances of sex abuse. Marie Reilly, a professor of law at Penn State University and an expert in bankruptcy litigation, including Catholic diocesan bankruptcy proceedings, told EWTN News in 2025 that starting in the 1990s, insurance companies mostly changed how they cover sexual abuse.“Up until about the mid-’90s, a general liability policy used to include coverages for employee liability,” she said. “It would cover sex abuse claims against the diocese stemming from an employee’s abuse.”“After 1996, insurance policies issued under new revised standards just don’t provide that coverage anymore,” she said.

Maryland Supreme Court: State cannot reveal names of individuals who allegedly hid Church abuse #Catholic Prosecutors in Maryland may not reveal the names of individuals who allegedly hid or failed to report Church abuse, the state Supreme Court said April 27. As part of its investigation into alleged abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the state attorney generalʼs office had sought to make public the details of a grand jury report, including the identities of individuals who have not been charged with a crime but who allegedly failed to stop abuse from occurring. A lower court granted the attorney generalʼs request to publish the information, with an appellate court partly upholding that decision. Yet in its April 27 ruling, the Maryland Supreme Court reversed those decisions, holding that the attorney generalʼs office did not “meet [the] burden” of justifying the release of the identities. “Many grand jury investigations obtain damaging information and allegations about uncharged individuals that the public might benefit from learning,” the high court acknowledged. But “one of the primary purposes of grand jury secrecy is to protect uncharged persons from public disgrace in the absence of a criminal charge and a forum in which to seek vindication,” it said. “A court may not order disclosure of secret grand jury material, over the objection of an uncharged individual, for the purpose of holding that person accountable in the court of public opinion,” the justices said. The court noted that the attorney generalʼs office had argued that the “intensity of public interest” in the case could justify revealing the identities.Yet “the interests promoted by grand jury secrecy do not increase or decrease based on how much the public wants to learn the information contained in grand jury materials,” the court said.The decision comes amid ongoing court proceedings in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, which filed for bankruptcy in September 2023 ahead of a wave of sex abuse claims filed against it under the Maryland Child Victims Act. Earlier this month, the archdiocesan insurer Hartford Insurance Group proposed contributing $100 million to a settlement for abuse victims. The archdiocese in 2024 sued multiple insurers over what it claimed was a failure to pay abuse claims for which the insurers were contractually obligated.In 2024 Archbishop William Lori attended two court-ordered “listening sessions” with alleged victims of sexual abuse, with the prelate describing himself as "deeply moved by their very powerful testimony.”

California man awarded $16 million in Diocese of Oakland clergy abuse suit #Catholic A California man has been awarded a massive $16 million payout in a civil suit regarding allegations against a former priest from the Diocese of Oakland. A jury in Alameda County Superior Court on April 22 awarded the eight-figure settlement to an unidentified John Doe amid ongoing bankruptcy proceedings brought by the Oakland Diocese. The law firm Jeff Anderson and Associations said in a press release that the settlement was “the first case to reach a jury verdict under the California Child Victims Act.” The law, passed in 2019, opened a three-year window for alleged abuse victims to file claims outside of the standard statute of limitations. The allegations brought by the John Doe in Oakland concerned Father Stephen Kiesle, a priest who has faced multiple abuse allegations dating from the 1970s. The victim said Kiesle abused him during that decade.Kiesle pleaded no contest in 1978 to lewd conduct involving two boys, for which he received probation, while in the early 2000s he was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading no contest on charges of molesting a girl near Sacramento. Kiesle was charged in 2022 with vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving after a crash that killed a man in Rossmoor, California. He pleaded no contest to those charges in 2023 and was sentenced to more than six years in state prison. The Diocese of Oakland says on its list of credibly accused priests that Kiesle was removed from ministry in 1978 and laicized in 1987. In November 2024 the Oakland Diocese said it would pay up to $200 million as part of a major abuse settlement. The diocese filed for bankruptcy in May 2023. The bankruptcy filing put nearly all abuse lawsuits against the diocese on hold, though several were allowed to proceed to trial, including the John Doe suit settled on April 22.