A Catholic diocese in New Jersey near Philadelphia has reached an agreement to pay $180 million to settle clergy sexual abuse cases, marking another major payout in a scandal that has plagued the church for over twenty years.
The Camden diocese settlement requires bankruptcy court approval and follows years of the diocese resisting a state grand jury probe before cooperating last year.
Similar to dioceses across the nation, Camden declared bankruptcy while facing numerous lawsuits after states loosened statute of limitations laws.
This settlement joins a growing list of substantial payouts by Catholic Church organizations throughout the United States.
The Los Angeles Archdiocese reached an $880 million agreement in 2024 to compensate over 1,000 clergy abuse survivors from incidents spanning decades.
Covering Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, this archdiocese had already distributed more than $740 million to survivors, bringing their combined payments above $1.5 billion.
In December, a federal judge approved the New Orleans Archdiocese’s commitment to pay at least $230 million to hundreds of clergy abuse survivors.
This agreement concluded lengthy negotiations and established safeguards aimed at preventing future abuse incidents. The archdiocese declared bankruptcy in 2020 to manage more than 500 abuse claims collectively rather than individually.
Back in 2007, San Diego’s Roman Catholic Diocese committed to a $198 million settlement covering more than 140 clergy abuse cases.
However, the diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2024 when confronted with approximately 400 new lawsuits alleging decades-old abuse by priests and other church personnel. These cases emerged after California removed statute of limitations restrictions on childhood sexual abuse claims in 2019.
The Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, a Jesuit religious order, agreed in 2011 to distribute $166 million among more than 450 Native Americans and Alaska Natives who suffered abuse at the order’s educational institutions throughout the northwestern United States. This same order had previously settled another 110 abuse cases in Fairbanks, Alaska, for $50 million in 2007.
Orange County’s Roman Catholic Diocese finalized a $100 million settlement with approximately 90 abuse survivors in 2004, followed by an additional $7 million agreement three years later to resolve four more sexual abuse lawsuits.
Portland’s archdiocese became the first Catholic diocese to declare bankruptcy over abuse allegations in 2004 after resolving more than 100 cases. When the bankruptcy concluded three years later, the archdiocese had addressed over 300 claims and distributed nearly $90 million in settlements and legal costs. The archdiocese later agreed to pay almost $4 million in 2019 to settle eight additional clergy abuse claims.
Boston’s Roman Catholic Archdiocese committed to an $85 million settlement covering more than 500 clergy abuse lawsuits in 2003. The extensive nature of Boston’s abuse crisis sparked nationwide and international reporting on widespread priest abuse and institutional cover-up efforts.
The Diocese of Covington distributed more than $81 million to over 200 sexual abuse survivors through a 2006 court settlement. A diocesan report released in 2020 revealed that 59 Catholic priests and 31 other church-affiliated individuals had abused children since the 1950s.
Philadelphia’s Archdiocese has distributed more than $78 million to resolve 438 clergy sexual abuse claims as of 2022, according to official reports. In 2023, the archdiocese committed an additional $3.5 million to settle another abuse case.
The Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, serving Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore communities, committed to a $77 million settlement for approximately 150 clergy abuse survivors in 2011.
Oakland’s Diocese reached a $56 million agreement with 56 abuse survivors in 2005. The diocese declared bankruptcy in 2023 after facing more than 300 childhood sexual abuse lawsuits filed under a new state law that temporarily extended litigation time limits for such cases.
