The Diocese of Buffalo, New York, has reduced the amount it is asking each parish to contribute toward its $150 million settlement of clergy sexual abuse claims, the diocese announced this week. The revised formula, communicated to pastors over the past month, lowers individual parish obligations by an average of 22 percent compared to the schedule first proposed in late 2024.
The change followed an extended consultation with parish councils, financial committees, and the diocesan presbyterate, a spokesperson said. It comes as parishes across the diocese — many of which are themselves shrinking, merging, or carrying their own debt — face the practical question of how to contribute to a settlement whose moral weight is shared by every member of the local Church.
The settlement
Buffalo's diocese filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020 after facing nearly 900 claims of clergy sexual abuse. After almost five years of negotiation, the diocese announced last fall a $150 million settlement with the survivors — among the largest negotiated by a U.S. diocese on a per-claim basis.
The settlement is being funded by a combination of insurance proceeds, sales of diocesan real estate, contributions from the diocese itself, and assessments levied on each of the diocese's 160 parishes. Bishop Fisher has been clear throughout the process that the settlement is intended to bring some measure of justice to survivors and is a moral obligation of the entire local Church.
What changed in the new formula
Under the revised plan, contributions are weighted more heavily by parish reserves and weekly collection averages — and less by historical real-estate valuations, which had penalized parishes with older, larger buildings but limited operating cash. Parishes that have merged in the last five years also receive a reduced single-parish assessment rather than the sum of their constituent parishes' prior obligations.
A second change introduces a hardship review process. Parishes that can demonstrate that the assessment will compromise their ability to operate may apply for a one-year deferral or a structured five-year plan, reviewed annually by a diocesan finance council that includes laity from across the diocese.
Reaction from the pews
Reaction in the diocese has been mixed but largely constructive. Several pastors told CatholicVote that the revised formula reflects a real effort by the bishop's office to listen to parish leadership and remains, in their view, a faithful attempt to share the obligation across the local Church.
Survivor advocates have generally welcomed the revised formula, noting that what matters most is that the settlement actually be paid in full and on time. "The accounting can be done many ways," said one survivor advocate. "What matters is that this generation of survivors finally sees a check, an acknowledgment, and a Church doing something different than the Church that hurt them."
Reporting by the CatholicVote Newsroom. Tips: news@catholicvote.org.