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Archdiocese of New York will pay out 0 million in sexual abuse settlement #Catholic The Archdiocese of New York will pay out 0 million in a settlement with sexual abuse victims.The settlement, first announced in May, required unanimous agreement of all 1,300 victims, which has been established, attorneys for hundreds of victims said on Oct. 24.The agreement comes after years of litigation following New York’s 2019 passage of the New York Child Victims’ Act, which permanently extended the civil statute of limitations so victims of childhood sexual abuse can file claims until age 55, and opened a temporary revival window (extended through August 2021) that allowed previously time-barred claims to be filed by victims of any age.The settlement also requires the archdiocese to maintain and update a list of credibly accused clergy on its website, attorneys said.The archdiocese and a plaintiffs’ liaison committee, composed of attorneys from eight law firms representing the majority of claimants, negotiated for months to arrive at the agreement.Archbishop Ronald Hicks called the news of the settlement “encouraging” in an Oct. 24 letter to priests provided to EWTN News by the archdiocese.“We are on the verge of being able to, please God, bring some measure of healing and reconciliation to all victim-survivors,” Hicks wrote. “This agreement will also allow the archdiocese to turn its full attention once again to its mission of preaching the Gospel, healing the sick, caring for the poor and needy, welcoming the stranger, and educating our children.”He instructed priests to assure their parishioners that parish life “should continue uninterrupted” if asked about the settlement, saying they will be informed through a message when the deal is finalized. The settlement agreement is scheduled to be signed Nov. 6.In his letter to priests, Hicks thanked Cardinal Timothy Dolan, “under whose leadership the process began.”The settlement amount is the second highest in history, near the record 0 million the Archdiocese of Los Angeles paid in 2024 and half a billion dollars higher than the 0 million settlement Dolan announced in December 2025.Dolan said at the time that the archdiocese had made “a series of very difficult financial decisions” to help fund the then-0 million settlement, including staff layoffs, a 10% reduction in the archdioceseʼs operating budget, and the sale of real estate holdings, including the 0 million sale of the former diocesan headquarters in Manhattan.The settlement allows the Archdiocese of New York to avoid filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Along with the Diocese of Brooklyn, it is one of only two of New York’s eight Catholic dioceses that have not sought bankruptcy protection.The archdiocese confirmed to EWTN News that is is still engaged in litigation with its longtime insurer Chubb, which it sued in 2024, claiming the company was “attempting to evade their legal and moral contractual obligation” to pay out claims to sex-abuse victims."Despite accepting millions in premiums from the archdiocese, Chubb has steadfastly refused to honor the policies it issued,” Dolan said in December 2025.
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Archdiocese of New York will pay out $800 million in sexual abuse settlement #Catholic The Archdiocese of New York will pay out $800 million in a settlement with sexual abuse victims.The settlement, first announced in May, required unanimous agreement of all 1,300 victims, which has been established, attorneys for hundreds of victims said on Oct. 24.The agreement comes after years of litigation following New York’s 2019 passage of the New York Child Victims’ Act, which permanently extended the civil statute of limitations so victims of childhood sexual abuse can file claims until age 55, and opened a temporary revival window (extended through August 2021) that allowed previously time-barred claims to be filed by victims of any age.The settlement also requires the archdiocese to maintain and update a list of credibly accused clergy on its website, attorneys said.The archdiocese and a plaintiffs’ liaison committee, composed of attorneys from eight law firms representing the majority of claimants, negotiated for months to arrive at the agreement.Archbishop Ronald Hicks called the news of the settlement “encouraging” in an Oct. 24 letter to priests provided to EWTN News by the archdiocese.“We are on the verge of being able to, please God, bring some measure of healing and reconciliation to all victim-survivors,” Hicks wrote. “This agreement will also allow the archdiocese to turn its full attention once again to its mission of preaching the Gospel, healing the sick, caring for the poor and needy, welcoming the stranger, and educating our children.”He instructed priests to assure their parishioners that parish life “should continue uninterrupted” if asked about the settlement, saying they will be informed through a message when the deal is finalized. The settlement agreement is scheduled to be signed Nov. 6.In his letter to priests, Hicks thanked Cardinal Timothy Dolan, “under whose leadership the process began.”The settlement amount is the second highest in history, near the record $880 million the Archdiocese of Los Angeles paid in 2024 and half a billion dollars higher than the $300 million settlement Dolan announced in December 2025.Dolan said at the time that the archdiocese had made “a series of very difficult financial decisions” to help fund the then-$300 million settlement, including staff layoffs, a 10% reduction in the archdioceseʼs operating budget, and the sale of real estate holdings, including the $100 million sale of the former diocesan headquarters in Manhattan.The settlement allows the Archdiocese of New York to avoid filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Along with the Diocese of Brooklyn, it is one of only two of New York’s eight Catholic dioceses that have not sought bankruptcy protection.The archdiocese confirmed to EWTN News that is is still engaged in litigation with its longtime insurer Chubb, which it sued in 2024, claiming the company was “attempting to evade their legal and moral contractual obligation” to pay out claims to sex-abuse victims."Despite accepting millions in premiums from the archdiocese, Chubb has steadfastly refused to honor the policies it issued,” Dolan said in December 2025.

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Archbishop Hicks said the settlement puts the archdiocese “on the verge of being able to … bring some measure of healing and reconciliation to all victim-survivors.”

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Transnational online scam operations on the rise, U.S. State Department says #Catholic The State Department released its 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report on Oct. 8, showing criminal organizations and repressive governments are using trafficking for profit in new ways.The report, released more than three months after the June 30 deadline, said the spread of industrial-scale online scam operations “pose a direct threat to US national security.”Transnational crime organizations, mostly run by Chinese nationals and long based in Southeast Asia, have moved into Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America, destabilizing local communities and cheating people out of billions of dollars each year, according to the report. Fraudulent online romance, gambling, and cryptocurrency schemes have defrauded people in more than 125 countries, with Americans, the primary targets, losing at least .2 billion in 2025 to compounds operating out of Southeast Asia, according to the report.The organizations recruited people from at least 80 countries over the past few years through fraudulent schemes, often pushing them into forced labor and holding them in guarded compounds and manipulating them through violence, sexual exploitation, intimidation, and other acts. They are often coerced into committing crimes, the report found.The report, an annual assessment required by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, covers April 1, 2025, through March 31.The State Department said it relied on information from embassy reporting, government officials, nongovernmental and international organizations, published reports, news articles, and other sources.The State Department said that governments that fail to punish traffickers and protect victims should be held accountable.12 governments citedTwelve governments are cited in the report for a “policy or pattern” of state-sponsored human trafficking: Afghanistan, Belarus, Burma, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Russia, South Sudan, and Sudan. This designation covers “trafficking in government-funded programs, forced labor in government-affiliated medical services or other sectors, sexual slavery in government camps, or the employment or recruitment of child soldiers.”Under the Child Soldiers Prevention Act, the department listed 14 countries whose forces or state-backed militias recruited or used children in any capacity during hostilities, including as sex slaves: Afghanistan, Burma, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Iran, Nigeria, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela, and Yemen.Among country rankings reported so far, Israel returned to Tier 1, the highest category, for the first time since 2021, after five years on Tier 2. The Republic of Congo was downgraded to Tier 3, the lowest, for failing to meet minimum standards and not making significant efforts. A Tier 3 listing can restrict certain U.S. assistance, including security assistance, the report said.A Tier 1 ranking does not mean that a country has no human trafficking. Instead, according to the report, “a Tier 1 ranking indicates that a government has made efforts to address the problem … and met the TVPA’s minimum standards.”Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, author of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, said in a statement on Oct. 8 that the report’s findings are “a stark reminder that modern-day slavery remains a global scourge — and that governments must be held accountable when they fail to protect vulnerable people.”“Human trafficking is an assault on human dignity and freedom,” the congressman wrote. “The United States must continue to use every tool at its disposal — including the TIP Report — to expose human trafficking whenever it rears its ugly head, protect survivors, and press foreign governments to end this blight upon humanity.”“China remains on Tier 3 — the lowest ranking,” Smith continued, “reflecting its continued failure to meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use and enabling of forced labor — including the systematic exploitation of Uyghurs and other persecuted minorities — is deeply troubling and deserves the greatest level of scrutiny.”“Moreover, the horrific, ongoing consequences of China’s one-child per couple policy can still be seen and felt today, as the Report notes that a gross disparity — tens of millions more boys than girls — has driven the demand for commercial sex trafficking and coercive marriages in the country,” Smith wrote.“Governments on Tier 3 — including China, North Korea, Iran, Russia, Burma, Belarus, Cambodia, Cuba, Laos, Nicaragua, Sudan, South Sudan, and Venezuela — can and must do more. Tier 3 must never become a permanent designation; it should serve as a dire warning and a call to action,” Smith wrote.
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Transnational online scam operations on the rise, U.S. State Department says #Catholic The State Department released its 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report on Oct. 8, showing criminal organizations and repressive governments are using trafficking for profit in new ways.The report, released more than three months after the June 30 deadline, said the spread of industrial-scale online scam operations “pose a direct threat to US national security.”Transnational crime organizations, mostly run by Chinese nationals and long based in Southeast Asia, have moved into Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America, destabilizing local communities and cheating people out of billions of dollars each year, according to the report. Fraudulent online romance, gambling, and cryptocurrency schemes have defrauded people in more than 125 countries, with Americans, the primary targets, losing at least $18.2 billion in 2025 to compounds operating out of Southeast Asia, according to the report.The organizations recruited people from at least 80 countries over the past few years through fraudulent schemes, often pushing them into forced labor and holding them in guarded compounds and manipulating them through violence, sexual exploitation, intimidation, and other acts. They are often coerced into committing crimes, the report found.The report, an annual assessment required by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, covers April 1, 2025, through March 31.The State Department said it relied on information from embassy reporting, government officials, nongovernmental and international organizations, published reports, news articles, and other sources.The State Department said that governments that fail to punish traffickers and protect victims should be held accountable.12 governments citedTwelve governments are cited in the report for a “policy or pattern” of state-sponsored human trafficking: Afghanistan, Belarus, Burma, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Russia, South Sudan, and Sudan. This designation covers “trafficking in government-funded programs, forced labor in government-affiliated medical services or other sectors, sexual slavery in government camps, or the employment or recruitment of child soldiers.”Under the Child Soldiers Prevention Act, the department listed 14 countries whose forces or state-backed militias recruited or used children in any capacity during hostilities, including as sex slaves: Afghanistan, Burma, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Iran, Nigeria, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela, and Yemen.Among country rankings reported so far, Israel returned to Tier 1, the highest category, for the first time since 2021, after five years on Tier 2. The Republic of Congo was downgraded to Tier 3, the lowest, for failing to meet minimum standards and not making significant efforts. A Tier 3 listing can restrict certain U.S. assistance, including security assistance, the report said.A Tier 1 ranking does not mean that a country has no human trafficking. Instead, according to the report, “a Tier 1 ranking indicates that a government has made efforts to address the problem … and met the TVPA’s minimum standards.”Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, author of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, said in a statement on Oct. 8 that the report’s findings are “a stark reminder that modern-day slavery remains a global scourge — and that governments must be held accountable when they fail to protect vulnerable people.”“Human trafficking is an assault on human dignity and freedom,” the congressman wrote. “The United States must continue to use every tool at its disposal — including the TIP Report — to expose human trafficking whenever it rears its ugly head, protect survivors, and press foreign governments to end this blight upon humanity.”“China remains on Tier 3 — the lowest ranking,” Smith continued, “reflecting its continued failure to meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use and enabling of forced labor — including the systematic exploitation of Uyghurs and other persecuted minorities — is deeply troubling and deserves the greatest level of scrutiny.”“Moreover, the horrific, ongoing consequences of China’s one-child per couple policy can still be seen and felt today, as the Report notes that a gross disparity — tens of millions more boys than girls — has driven the demand for commercial sex trafficking and coercive marriages in the country,” Smith wrote.“Governments on Tier 3 — including China, North Korea, Iran, Russia, Burma, Belarus, Cambodia, Cuba, Laos, Nicaragua, Sudan, South Sudan, and Venezuela — can and must do more. Tier 3 must never become a permanent designation; it should serve as a dire warning and a call to action,” Smith wrote.

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Fraudulent online romance, gambling, and cryptocurrency schemes have defrauded people in more than 125 countries, with Americans losing at least $18.2 billion in 2025, according to a new report.

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