The proposed settlement will resolve claims that the New Orleans Archdiocese (and associated institutions) clergy sexually abused minors, and church authorities chose to either ignore or conceal these allegations from survivors rather than report them to law enforcement. The agreement requires the church to make public its full archive of records on sexual abuse involving the clergy, and the archive will include claims against clergy already found by the archdiocese to be credibly accused of abuse – or clergy or church staff named in at least three verified claims. Those named by one or two claimants will not be included in the archive.
The archdiocese and a committee representing clergy abuse claimants in September 2024 filed competing plans for settling the bankruptcy. This latest proposal has come a long way since the church proposed to pay the survivors an average of $125,000 per claimant, while the committee wanted an average of about $2 million per claimant.
Point System
Two-thirds of abuse survivors are required to approve the settlement, which includes a “point system” whereby claims are scored by severity or type of abuse, and payouts are tied to those scores, reported The Guardian. The survivors’ committee that negotiated the settlement selected an abuse claims reviewer who will consider the nature and impact of the abuse to award between zero and 100 points to each claim. Survivors would accumulate more points if they:
- Participated in criminal prosecution of the abuser,
- Sued before the bankruptcy began,
- Led efforts on behalf of other survivors
More points can be awarded based on the impact the abuse had on the victim’s behavior, academic achievement, mental health and loss of faith and family relationships. Points can be reduced if the claimant was over 18 and consented to the sexual contact.
The Guardian reported in August 2025 that claims regarding rape by a Catholic church employee will be worth twice as much money as claims about a priest masturbating in front of someone, four times more than claims of a cleric touching someone under their clothes and seven times more than claims about being shown pornography, according to details from a settlement disclosure statement.
Statute of Limitations
Back in 2020, the church figured that most abuse claimants would have no legal recourse against the church in court because of the Statute of Limitations: They had waited too long to file lawsuits. But the Louisiana Legislature passed a lookback law, also known as Window Legislation, that allows victims or survivors to file lawsuits no matter how long ago the abuse occurred. The archdiocese, other dioceses, and church entities challenged the law’s constitutionality but the church’s efforts to strike down the law failed: in June 2024, the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld it (by a 4-3 decision) allowing survivors’ claims to proceed, according to the Catholic News Agency. “It is critically important in a survivor’s journey to be able to take the steps to get some accountability and take back their power,” said one attorney. “Statutes of Limitations didn’t reflect the amount of time that it typically takes for a survivor to take that step.”
A national survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control estimates 12.3% of female rape victims and 27.8% of male rape victims were first raped when they were age 10 or younger. Sadly, the majority of sexual assaults—up to 60 percent –are never reported. A survey commissioned by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops found that children have made more than 11,000 allegations of sexual abuse by priests dating back to 1950. According to the survey, 61 percent (6,700 claims) have been substantiated and although most of the children abused were between 11-17 years of age, six percent of the abused children were age seven or younger.
Those with abuse claims against the church’s parishes, schools and affiliated charities have until 15 October 2025 to file their claims to be eligible to vote. The deadline to vote is October 29th. Judge Maredith Grabill scheduled a hearing to confirm or reject the settlement plan starting November 12th, 2025.
The Associated Press reported that the judge will dismiss the case if the settlement is not approved, and survivors would have to seek compensation for their sexual abuse claims through new lawsuits, which would likely take several years in the court system. Further, the archdiocese could declare bankruptcy again to delay payments, according to a public letter from the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.
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