A fund to pay Catholic Diocese of Buffalo sexual abuse victims has now risen to $272.5 million.
Two of the diocese insurers agreed to pay $122.5 million to help settle more than 800 claims of sexual abuse, according to court papers.
The settlement was detailed in court papers provided Wednesday by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Carl Bucki, according to Channel 2 News.
The settlement is in addition to $150 million the diocese is already contributing toward the fund.
“These settlements are another step toward the resolution of this case,” Jeff Anderson and Associates attorney Stacey Benson said in a news release. “These settlements are a testament to survivors who refuse to stay silent until the diocese is held accountable.”
The Buffalo Catholic Diocese reached the $150 million settlement in April with hundreds of child sex abuse claimants as part of a larger plan aimed at emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Of that amount, $80 million was expected to come from diocese parishioners as well as parishes set to merge and close as part of the diocese’s Road to Renewal.
But several parishes, including All Saints in Lockport, filed a joint lawsuit on July 22 against the diocese in Erie County Supreme Court in an effort to block it from using parish funds to cover the sex abuse settlement. It was the second such lawsuit from a group of parishes filed by attorneys John J. Flaherty and James I. Myers against the diocese in July.
The other churches involved in the suit are Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bowmansville, St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta in Depew, and Holy Apostles in Jamestown. The first lawsuit filed earlier this month involved Blessed Sacrament in Tonawanda, St. Bernadette in Orchard Park, St. John XXIII in West Seneca, Our Lady of Peace in Clarence, and St. Aloysius Gonzaga in Cheektowaga.
“The taking of 80% (of unrestricted savings and reserves) would cripple All Saints parish operations, would cause immediate and irreparable harm, impact the parish’s robust ministries, and be contrary to the Vatican’s decree of suppression of the Bishop’s decree of merger,” the lawsuit states about All Saints.
All the churches in the suits are among the 78 that the diocese planned on closing or merging with other parishes as part of its Road to Renewal reorganization plan. Their mergers are on hold while the Dicastery for Clergy at the Vatican reviews appeals to remain open.
A court order for the diocese to file a plan of reorganization by Sept. 1 as part of its bankruptcy filing was also extended to Oct. 1 by Judge Bucki.