The Archdiocese of San Francisco has agreed to pay $395 million to resolve 530 claims of child sexual abuse, bringing to a close one of the largest Catholic Church abuse settlements in the United States. The agreement, announced jointly by the archdiocese and attorneys representing the victims on Monday, concludes litigation stemming from hundreds of civil lawsuits filed against the religious institution.
The settlement follows years of legal action involving allegations of sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy. According to attorney Jeff Anderson, who represented victims in the case, the amount falls short of what a full acknowledgment of responsibility would require. However, he said the agreement represents the highest compensation per victim ever achieved in a settlement involving clergy sexual abuse cases.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said the settlement provides “a path toward just compensation for the survivors who have borne the burden of this abuse their entire lives.” In a statement released by the archdiocese, he expressed hope that the agreement would allow both survivors and the Church to move forward after years of legal proceedings.
Cordileone also acknowledged the Church’s responsibility for the abuse covered by the settlement. He said that although the vast majority of the allegations date back several decades, the archdiocese accepts full responsibility for what occurred and apologized to those who were harmed. He added that the Church remains committed to supporting survivors and addressing the consequences of abuse committed by ministers in the past.
While the San Francisco agreement sets a record for compensation on a per-victim basis, it does not surpass the largest overall settlement involving the Catholic Church in the United States. Less than two years earlier, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay $880 million to resolve claims brought by 1,353 victims of clergy sexual abuse. Combined with a previous settlement reached in 2014, total compensation paid by the Los Angeles archdiocese exceeded $1.5 billion for abuse cases dating back to the 1940s.
At the time of the Los Angeles settlement, attorneys representing the Church stated that no financial payment could restore what had been taken from the victims, who they said had endured decades of suffering. Archbishop José Gomez said in a letter that most of the abuse occurred more than 50 years ago, with some cases dating back to the 1940s. He stated that approximately 300 individuals were named in the lawsuits, including clergy, laypeople, and religious personnel from other dioceses who had served within the archdiocese.
Gomez succeeded Cardinal Roger Mahony as archbishop in 2011. According to the source text, Mahony had worked for years to prevent cases of child sexual abuse from becoming public and from being reported to authorities.
The San Francisco settlement was made possible after California expanded the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits involving child sexual abuse, allowing victims to pursue legal action even when the alleged abuse occurred decades earlier. More than 500 civil lawsuits were filed against the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 2019 under the revised law.
In 2023, the Archdiocese of San Francisco filed for bankruptcy protection as it faced the growing number of civil claims. Other Catholic dioceses in California, including Oakland and Sacramento, have also sought bankruptcy protection while responding to lawsuits filed under the state’s extended legal timeframe for child sexual abuse cases.
