By Carl Campanile

The Brooklyn Diocese has agreed to negotiate a “global” settlement to compensate 1,100 people who accused priests and staffers of child sex abuse — a figure that will likely run into hundreds of millions of dollars.

The payouts for these cases—90% of which date back more than 50 years to the 1960s and ’70s — will be a huge financial blow to the diocese, forcing it to unload real estate to raise the settlement money.

“To facilitate this global resolution, the Diocese is cost-cutting and setting aside significant funds to compensate victim-survivors,” Bishop Robert Brennan said Thursday in a “Dear brothers and sisters” letter to the church faithful.

“The process of marshalling these funds entails difficult financial choices, but the Diocese is committed to fairly compensating all meritorious claims,” Brennan said, adding that the payout cash will not come from parishioners.

“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.”

Brennan said the diocese’s lawyers have spoken with the top attorneys representing hundreds of victims to begin the settlement process.

“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,” Brennan said.

“As our global resolution process moves forward, we continue to pray for the victim-survivors, their families, and all others impacted by sexual abuse.”An attorney at one of the law firms representing more than 200 clients suing the Diocese over the alleged sex abuse welcomed the announcement, but said actions speak louder than words.

“The Diocese’ announcement offers promise but action is what counts,” said Trusha Goffe, a lawyer with Jeff Anderson and Associates.

Survivors have suffered for decades from “protracted litigation and scorched earth tactics,” Goffe said, adding she hoped the Diocese would offer settlements to address the “tremendous harm” caused by predators assigned to or employed by the church.

“The announcement today by Bishop Brennan to pursue a global resolution of remaining clergy sexual cases is a step in the right direction only it helps survivors or victims gain a degree of validation,” said attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represents 25 Brooklyn victims and who helped bring the clergy sex abuse scandal at the Archdiocese of Boston into the national spotlight more than two decades ago.

“Bishop Brennan must understand that clergy sexual abuse survivors, for good reason, do not trust the Catholic Church or its leaders,” Garabedian said. “Accordingly, the settlement program must be without delay, uncomplicated, and fair.”

The diocese’s Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, which began in 2017, has already paid over 500 victim-survivors more than $100 million.

In 2018, four men who were sexually abused by a teacher at a Catholic church in Clinton Hill reached a $27.5 million settlement with the Diocese and a local after-school program.

The men were all repeatedly raped as kids by Angelo Serrano, the former director of religion at St. Lucy’s-St. Patrick’s Church, between 2003 and 2009.

The Brooklyn Diocese — which also includes Queens and serves 1.3 million Catholics — retained the firms of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, Anderson Kill P.C., and Alvarez & Marsal as legal and financial advisers for the massive new settlement.

The parties have agreed to tap retired Los Angeles Judge Daniel Buckley and lawyer Paul Finn as neutral mediators to facilitate the resolution process. Finn has mediated hundreds of sex abuse claims brought against the Archdioceses of Boston and Milwaukee.

Buckley mediated a global settlement of sex abuse claims filed against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He has also recently been engaged to resolve the Child Victims Act claims filed against the neighborhing Archdiocese of New York.

The archdiocese in December agreed to negotiate a settlement to compensate 1,300 people who accused priests and lay staff members of child sex abuse — and is raising $300 million to cover the cost.

The Archdiocese of New York — which includes Manhattan, Staten Island, the Bronx and the northern suburbs — also is battling in court with its insurer, Chubb, over payments to alleged sex abuse victims.

Other Catholic dioceses, including Albany, Rockville Centre and Rochester, filed for bankruptcy protection under the crush of sex abuse claims.

The New York Child Victims Act of 2019 allowed child sex abuse survivors to bring a civil lawsuit against abusers and institutions that protected them until the survivor reaches the age of 55. It also opened a one-year window for child sexual abuse victims of any age to bring lawsuits for abuse that occurred even decades ago.

Hundreds of suits were filed against the Brooklyn Diocese under the law.One of them accused Rev. Patrick Fursey O’Toole, Friar Rudolph Manozzi and Brother Julio Ortiz of engaging in “unpermitted sexual contact” with altar boys dating back to the 1950s, according to court documents.

The Diocese last year defrocked a priest who led parishes for decades following an investigation into child sexual-abuse claims dating back to the 1980s.

The Diocese said it substantiated accusations of sex abuse against the Rev. Michael McHugh, a parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Astoria.
McHugh was permanently barred from all ministerial duties and no longer lives in church housing.

His name was added to the Diocese List of Credibly Accused Priests.

— Additional reporting by Peter Senzamici