Updated February 2026Active Litigation

Catholic Church Abuse Lawsuit Lawsuit Tracker

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Active LitigationLast updated: February 20, 2026

Sexual abuse perpetrated by Catholic clergy — priests, deacons, brothers, bishops, and other Church officials — is one of the most extensively documented institutional abuse crises in American history. The 2002 Boston Globe Spotlight investigation exposed systemic cover-up by the Archdiocese of Boston, triggering a nationwide reckoning. Since then, over 30 dioceses have filed for bankruptcy protection and more than $4 billion in settlements have been paid to survivors across the United States. Today, many survivors who experienced abuse decades ago have renewed legal options through state lookback windows — temporary legislation that suspends the statute of limitations and opens a new filing period — and through diocesan bankruptcy claims processes with court-supervised compensation funds. California's lookback window is open through December 2027. Louisiana's window is open through June 2027. New York opens a new lookback window in March 2026. The Diocese of Alexandria's bankruptcy claims deadline is June 8, 2026. If you experienced abuse by a Catholic clergyman, speaking with an attorney now can clarify exactly what options remain available to you.

Case Timeline

Litigation Timeline

March 2026

New York Lookback Window Opens — March 2026

New York opens a new lookback window for clergy abuse and other childhood sexual abuse claims beginning March 2026. This new window gives survivors — including those who did not file during the original Child Victims Act window — another opportunity to bring claims that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations. The Archdiocese of New York established a $300 million compensation fund in 2025 for approximately 1,300 survivors. New York cities including Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, and New York City have active litigation and significant survivor communities who have not yet come forward. Survivors in New York are strongly encouraged to consult with a clergy abuse attorney before or immediately after the window opens in March 2026.

legislative
October 31, 2025

Diocese of Alexandria Files Chapter 11 — October 2025

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on October 31, 2025 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana. The Diocese had published a list of over 20 clergy members with credible abuse allegations prior to filing. The Diocese covers central and northwest Louisiana — a largely rural area where survivors have had limited access to specialized clergy abuse legal counsel. The bankruptcy court set a claims bar date of June 8, 2026. Survivors of abuse by Diocese of Alexandria clergy — whether the abuse occurred in parishes, Catholic schools, youth programs, or other institutional settings — must file a proof of claim with the bankruptcy court by June 8, 2026. This is the most urgent individual deadline in current U.S. Catholic clergy abuse litigation.

litigation
2021–2025

Wave of Diocesan Bankruptcies — 2021–2025

Facing massive claim volumes generated by state lookback windows, more than 30 U.S. Catholic dioceses filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy between 2021 and 2025. Major bankruptcy filings include: Diocese of Buffalo (2020, $150M settlement, ~900 claims); Diocese of Rochester (2019, $246M settlement, July 2025); Archdiocese of New Orleans (2020, $305M settlement, February 2026); Diocese of San Diego (active, ~400 lawsuits); Diocese of Fresno (mid-2025, active). Each bankruptcy establishes a court-supervised claims process with a bar date. Survivors with claims against bankrupt dioceses must file proofs of claim by the bar date or be forever barred from the compensation fund.

litigation
2020–2021

COVID-19 Extensions and Expanded Lookback Windows — 2020–2021

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted multiple states to extend their clergy abuse lookback windows and toll limitations periods. New York extended its lookback window through August 2021. California enacted AB 218 in 2019 (effective January 2020), opening a 3-year lookback window for institutional childhood sexual abuse claims. Louisiana enacted its lookback window in June 2021. Nevada and Maine enacted permanent elimination of the civil statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse claims. These legislative actions dramatically expanded the universe of survivors with viable legal options, setting the stage for the wave of diocesan bankruptcy filings that followed as dioceses faced unprecedented claim volumes.

legislative
February 14, 2019

New York Child Victims Act Signed — February 2019

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Child Victims Act into law on February 14, 2019. The Act created a one-year lookback window (later extended) during which adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse could file civil lawsuits regardless of when the abuse occurred, effectively eliminating the statute of limitations barrier for historical claims. The lookback window generated over 11,000 filed claims — vastly exceeding legislative estimates — demonstrating the scale of unresolved abuse claims held by survivors who had been legally barred from filing. The Diocese of Buffalo and Diocese of Rochester filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in response to the volume of claims. The Child Victims Act became the model for similar lookback window legislation in dozens of other states.

legislative
January 2002

Boston Globe Spotlight Investigation — January 2002

The Boston Globe's Spotlight investigative team published its landmark investigation of systematic sexual abuse and cover-up in the Archdiocese of Boston, revealing that Cardinal Bernard Law and diocesan leadership had transferred Fr. John Geoghan between parishes over three decades despite receiving more than 130 complaints of child sexual abuse. The investigation demonstrated that the cover-up was systemic — not the work of individual bad actors — and triggered cascading investigations across U.S. dioceses. Cardinal Law resigned in December 2002. The Archdiocese of Boston paid $85 million to 552 survivors in 2003. The Spotlight investigation is widely considered the catalytic event that transformed clergy abuse from a local scandal into a documented institutional crisis with legal accountability.

investigative
Case Results

Notable Verdicts & Settlements

Settlement
$660,000,000

Archdiocese of Los Angeles Settlement — 508 Survivors

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles reached a landmark $660 million settlement in July 2007 covering 508 survivors of clergy sexual abuse, the largest single clergy abuse settlement in history at the time. The average per-claimant amount was approximately $1.3 million. The settlement followed discovery proceedings that revealed Cardinal Roger Mahony and Archdiocese leadership had systematically transferred accused priests and shielded their records from investigators. The settlement fund was established jointly by the Archdiocese and its insurance carriers. Individual claimant amounts ranged from $1,000 to over $5 million based on severity of abuse, duration, and institutional knowledge factors.

2007-07-14Los Angeles County, California
Settlement
$246,000,000

Diocese of Rochester Bankruptcy Settlement

The Diocese of Rochester, New York reached a $246 million settlement in July 2025 following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2019 in response to New York's Child Victims Act. The settlement covered claims from hundreds of survivors of abuse by Rochester diocesan clergy. The Diocese of Rochester's bankruptcy was among the first filed in response to the Child Victims Act lookback window and helped establish the template for subsequent diocesan bankruptcies across the country. The settlement demonstrated that New York's lookback window legislation succeeded in providing compensation to survivors who had been legally barred from filing for decades.

2025-07-01Monroe County, New York
Settlement
$150,000,000

Diocese of Buffalo Settlement — 900 Claims

The Diocese of Buffalo settled approximately 900 clergy abuse claims for $150 million following its 2020 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which was directly triggered by claim volume generated by New York's Child Victims Act (2019). The Buffalo settlement is notable for the scale of its survivor community — nearly 900 claimants — and for the Diocese's release of a comprehensive list of credibly accused clergy prior to settlement. Buffalo remains an active litigation market for claims against individual defendants not covered by the diocesan settlement, and survivors may have additional options under New York's March 2026 lookback window.

2023-04-01Erie County, New York
Settlement
$300,000,000

Archdiocese of New York Compensation Fund

The Archdiocese of New York established a $300 million voluntary compensation fund in September 2025 to resolve approximately 1,300 survivor claims without a bankruptcy filing. The fund was administered by an independent claims administrator and used a structured point-based matrix to assign compensation amounts based on abuse severity, duration, survivor age at time of abuse, and institutional knowledge factors. The Archdiocese of New York's fund represents one of the largest voluntary (non-bankruptcy) settlement funds in clergy abuse history and demonstrates that direct negotiation outside the bankruptcy process can produce significant survivor compensation.

2025-09-01New York County, New York
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