Court approves $246 million diocese bankruptcy settlement

As an abuse survivor left Rochester’s bankruptcy court Friday, he decided against speaking publicly to the media about the molestation he’d suffered decades before at the hands of a priest.

He wanted to first tell family members about the abuse.

For the hundreds of survivors of abuse, there may be similar stories and similar difficult moments ahead. When the $246.35 million bankruptcy settlement with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester was finalized and approved Friday, almost six years after the diocese first sought bankruptcy protection, the survivors applauded and cheered in the courtroom, some pumping their fists in celebration of what appeared to be a public acknowledgement and recognition of their pain.

“The money isn’t going to fix you,” Bankruptcy Judge Paul Warren told the packed courtroom, which overflowed into a second courtroom with a video feed of the proceedings. “It’s not going to make what happened go away.”

But, he said, the settlement sends a message: “What happened wasn’t your fault and it shouldn’t have happened.”

One survivor, John McHugh, had grown so frustrated with the years of waiting with the bankruptcy proceeding that he almost dropped out several times.

“These six years have been long and very difficult,” he said. “I’m glad that there’s some resolution, it appears. I am actually for the first time excited for the future because I can start to put some of this behind me and feel the best that I can.”

Buffalo-based attorney Steve Boyd, who represents more than 150 victims in the Rochester diocese bankruptcy, said after the settlement, “It’s been a very long up-and-down road for the survivors.”

The resolution, he said, “is some sense of justice.”

Insurers agree to settlement

Over the past two years, one diocesan insurer, Continental Insurance Co., also known as CNA, was a stumbling block to a settlement as other insurers agreed to terms. But in July, with a significant court date ahead, CNA agreed to a settlement that requires it to pay $120  million.

Two attorneys for victims said that the CNA payment will be the largest ever for an insurer in the recent spate of diocesan bankruptcy cases.

Those bankruptcies, across the country, were the offspring of lawsuits accusing priests and other church officials of abuse of children and teens. Dioceses were forced into bankruptcy to pay the costs, crafting settlements that provided payments for victims.

Other insurers for Rochester’s diocese and its parishes and the diocese itself will cover the settlement costs not paid by CNA.

After court Friday, Bishop of Rochester Salvatore Matano apologized to the victims, saying, “I take them in my heart every day of my life and every time I approach the altar they will be in my memory, asking the good Lord to give them the strength and the courage to continue on and that they be blessed in the years ahead.”

The settlement includes diocesan pledges for steps designed to prevent future abuse and public preservation of the written statements from survivors about their abuse. There are more than 500 claimants, including some who died during the pendency of the case. Their estates will receive the payments, which are expected to be finalized in coming months.

‘The work must continue’

Boston-based attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who was portrayed in the Oscar-winning film “Spotlight,” said he questions whether enough lessons have been learned.

“The Catholic church is not going to change its ways,” said Garabedian, who has represented thousands of survivors across the country.

Still, he said, the public awareness of the legacy of abuse is important, emboldening survivors to come forward and alerting people to the need to be vigilant with protections for their children.

The settlements, Garabedian said, can be a turning point for survivors, allowing them to move ahead. Therapy, he added, is still a vital and necessary part of the future for many.

“The work must continue and it will continue,” he said.

At a July court hearing Warren said he planned to wrap the settlement up literally with a bow at Friday’s proceeding and bring the bankruptcy case to an end. In a tabulated vote, there were no opponents to the settlement among survivors.

Warren said Friday that he forgot the bow, so he instead tied a shoelace around the settlement documents for transfer to the clerk’s office.

“I know it’s been a long run,” Warren said.

Attorney Boyd said many survivors at first struggled with admissions of their abuse, but the bankruptcy proceeding strengthened them and showed them they were not alone.

“They were little kids who didn’t stand a chance with these predators,” he said.

One survivor whom he represented would at first only meet in a park because he worried about talking in a public setting or law office.

Oftentimes, Boyd said, survivors were wary of telling family of the abuse. But when they did, the response was typically the same.

“Invariably,” he said, “the family wraps their arms around them.”

Gary Craig is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer. A retired Democrat and Chronicle reporter, he now writes on Substack.

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