Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco to Pay $395 Million in Child Sex Abuse Lawsuit Settlement

The Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco has agreed in principle to pay $395 million to settle more than 500 child sex abuse lawsuits, marking yet another hefty payout by the US Catholic Church over widespread molestation claims in recent years.

The proposed agreement announced on Monday is tied to the archdiocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case and would resolve all lawsuits brought against it under California Assembly Bill 218, a 2019 law that temporarily revived decades-old civil claims that would otherwise have been barred by the statute of limitations.

As part of the settlement, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone will be required to write an apology letter to each survivor, according to lawyers for the plaintiffs. The archdiocese will also have to implement a series of child-protection and transparency reforms, including maintaining and publishing a list of clergy accused of abuse and banning confidentiality agreements that silence survivors.

Cordileone said in a letter to the faithful that “no financial settlement can erase the painful legacy” of past abuse, but argued that the proposal offers “a path toward fair compensation for survivors who have carried the burden of this abuse for a lifetime.”

“Although most of the sexual abuse claims… involve incidents dating back many decades and individuals who are deceased or no longer in ministry, we accept responsibility for the failures that allowed this harm to occur,” he wrote. “I sincerely apologize to all those who have suffered because of those failures.”

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2023 after facing more than 500 civil lawsuits. A survivor-led committee is expected to help establish protocols for distributing the funds, with each claimant given an opportunity to submit their story to an independent allocator.

The Archdiocese of San Francisco serves around 442,000 Catholics across San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin counties. In its statement, the archdiocese said parishes, schools, and other related entities would have to contribute funds and unrestricted assets to the settlement, while donor-restricted donations and annual appeal funds would not be used.

The San Francisco case is the latest in a wave of large settlements and bankruptcy filings by Catholic dioceses across the US, many triggered by state laws reopening legal windows for historical abuse claims.

Earlier this year, the Diocese of Brooklyn said it was seeking to settle around 1,100 child sex abuse claims, most dating back to the 1960s and 1970s.

In October 2024, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay $880 million to settle 1,353 claims of childhood sexual abuse, the largest single settlement of its kind involving a Catholic archdiocese.