June 29 (UPI) -- The Archdiocese of San Francisco has reached a $395 million settlement with hundreds of survivors of childhood sexual abuse allegedly committed by members of the clergy, lawyers for the victims and the archbishop announced Monday.
The agreement in principle, which follows three years of bankruptcy proceedings and extensive negotiations between the archdiocese and lawyers representing the victims, affects some 530 survivors, according to lawyer Jeff Anderson, who is among the claimants' litigation team.
During a press conference streamed live online Monday afternoon, Anderson described the agreement as "a real settlement that provides for a significant measure of accountability, required transparency and an authentic reckoning by those that allowed these indelible horrors to be inflicted upon so many for so long."
The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2023, after hundreds of clergy sexual abuse civil cases were filed against it, which put a stop to all litigation and forced the survivors to reorganize into a committee that was represented by nine claimants.
Those nine claimants then negotiated the settlement on behalf of all of the survivors, according to Anderson, who said the agreement reached also includes a 14-point plan to protect future children from similar abuses and empower survivors.
