Diocese of Brooklyn enters into mediation to resolve 1,100 abuse claims

The Diocese of Brooklyn, N.Y., has announced it will enter into mediation to resolve some 1,100 sexual abuse claims.

“We will endeavor to resolve expeditiously all meritorious claims, and to avoid the time, expense, and emotional strain for victim-survivors that would be caused by individual trials,” said Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn in a Feb. 12 letter to the faithful. The letter was posted at The Tablet, the diocese’s newspaper.

The bishop said that counsel for the diocese and survivors have agreed upon two “neutral mediators” for the resolution process: retired Judge Daniel J. Buckley with the dispute resolution firm Signature Resolution; and Paul A. Finn of Commonwealth Mediation and Conciliation.

Both mediators have experience with other diocesan abuse claim resolutions, said Bishop Brennan.

Buckley has worked with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Archdiocese of New York, while Finn has been retained by the Archdiocese of Boston, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and the New York dioceses of Rochester, Rockville Centre and Syracuse.

Bishop Brennan said the mediations are part of “ongoing” efforts “to compensate victim-survivors and to bring closure.”

Since its 2017 inception, the diocese’s Independent Reconciliation and Compensation program has paid more than 500 survivors of sexual abuse a total of over $100 million, he said.

Bishop Brennan emphasized that the diocese has “for many years” been “working to address its part in the Church’s shameful history of sexual abuse of our young people.

“The impact of sexual abuse is devastating,” he said. “As your Bishop, I again offer my deepest apologies to all the victim-survivors.”

Attorney Jeff Anderson, whose firm Anderson and Associates represents more than 200 survivors with claims against the Diocese of Brooklyn, hailed the mediation announcement as “a real opportunity for resolution.”

In a Feb. 12 statement, Anderson dismissed Bishop Brennan’s apology to victims as “hollow, shallow, and lacking any measure of accountability or responsibility.”

Anderson also said that “for over six years, the Diocese has denied responsibility, contested virtually every case, causing survivors to endure not just delay but additional harm, compounding the trauma caused decades before by the offenders the Diocese has protected.”

Still, said Anderson, “the survivors and I pledge to work hard with the experienced mediators.”

“We look forward to the opportunity to work toward a resolution and will continue litigation as necessary,” said Anderson.

The latest cohort of claims derives in large part from New York’s Child Victims Act enacted in 2019. The CVA extended the state’s former statute of limitations by granting a one-year look back for time-barred civil claims to be revived. The law also reformed the statute of limitations giving survivors of sexual abuse until age 28 to press charges for felonies and age 25 for misdemeanors, and allowed survivors up to age 55 to bring lawsuits against abusers and institutions.

The CVA and the 2022 Adult Survivors Act, which created a one-year lookback window to allow persons who were over the age of 18 to sue their abusers regardless of when the abuse occurred, resulted in thousands of clerical abuse lawsuits. Six of New York’s eight dioceses have so far filed for bankruptcy in order to resolve the claims.

In his letter, Bishop Brennan stressed, “As we previously made clear, the funds used to make these settlements, and future ones, have not and will not come from your donations to the Diocese or from your parish offerings.”

At the same time, he said, the diocese “is cost-cutting and setting aside significant funds to compensate victim-survivors.”

He admitted that “the process of marshalling these funds entails difficult financial choices,” and said the diocese “is immediately undertaking the steps to amass substantial and sufficient funds to support our compensation efforts.”

Sales of diocesan-owned real estate, rather than a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, will be sought to fund the settlements, a total for which has not been made public, Robert Giuffra Jr., an attorney for the Diocese of Brooklyn, told The New York Times.

Separately, the Diocese of Brooklyn announced Feb. 11 that it would close seven of its Catholic schools at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year, citing “ongoing financial challenges and sustained declines in student enrollment.”

John Quaglione, the diocese’s deputy communications director and deputy press secretary, confirmed to OSV News in a Feb. 12 email that the school closures were not related to the mediation announcement.

Bishop Brennan also said in his letter that the diocese has been “productively engaging with representatives of its liability insurance carriers in an effort to obtain additional funds to compensate victim-survivors.”

In recent years, however, insurance companies have begun to push back on coverage of abuse claims, with the Archdiocese of New York currently battling the Chubb insurance firm in court over the issue.

Bishop Brennan said the Brooklyn Diocese has also retained several legal and financial advisors as part of the resolution effort.

He concluded, “As our global resolution process moves forward, we continue to pray for the victim-survivors, their families, and all others impacted by sexual abuse. May the Lord our God bring healing and peace.”

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