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Editor’s note: This article is based on the Diocese of Ogdensburg’s bankruptcy filings and reorganization materials, along with reporting from Bloomberg Law, North Country Public Radio and other publicly available sources.
Image: Coat of arms of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg, New York; via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 / Public Domain.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg is moving closer to ending its three-year bankruptcy with a proposed $83 million fund for survivors of clergy sexual abuse.
The new proposal substantially increases the amount potentially available to survivors compared with the $45 million agreement announced in May.
Under a Chapter 11 reorganization plan filed Aug. 31, the diocese, its parishes, schools and affiliated entities would contribute $45 million, while approximately $38 million would come from settlements with insurance companies.
An official committee representing abuse survivors supports the proposed plan.
If the bankruptcy court eventually confirms it, the agreement would resolve abuse claims against the diocese and participating Catholic entities and allow the Diocese of Ogdensburg to emerge from Chapter 11.
Diocese Filed for Bankruptcy in 2023 After Abuse Claims Mounted
The Diocese of Ogdensburg filed for Chapter 11 protection on July 17, 2023, after facing a wave of sexual abuse lawsuits brought under New York’s Child Victims Act.
The law temporarily reopened the courthouse to survivors whose claims had previously been barred by the statute of limitations, allowing allegations from decades earlier to move forward.
Since then, the bankruptcy has become the main forum for resolving claims involving the diocese, its parishes, schools and other Catholic entities.
The latest reorganization plan is significant because it lays out a path toward ending that process rather than simply announcing another round of settlement negotiations.
Parishes Would Also Enter Brief Chapter 11 Cases
One unusual feature of the proposal is that individual parishes would temporarily file their own Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.
Bishop Terry LaValley has described the approach as a way to obtain comprehensive resolution of abuse claims involving the diocese, parishes and other Catholic organizations.
The diocese expects the parish bankruptcy cases to last only about 48 hours before the parishes emerge under the larger reorganization plan.
Many parishes or predecessor entities have themselves been named as defendants in abuse lawsuits.
According to LaValley, the diocese was advised that bringing those entities into the bankruptcy process was the most realistic way to resolve existing claims across the Catholic organizations covered by the plan.
Similar bankruptcy structures have been used in clergy abuse cases involving the Diocese of Rockville Centre and the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Where Will the $45 Million Church Contribution Come From?
The church-funded portion of the settlement won’t come solely from the central diocese.
According to the proposed financial structure reported this week, the diocese’s 85 parishes and schools would contribute approximately $28.6 million.
The diocese and other affiliated entities would contribute another roughly $6.47 million, while an additional $10 million would be borrowed for the survivor trust.
Insurance settlements would supply the remaining approximately $38 million needed to bring the total fund to about $83 million.
Were You Sexually Abused By A Catholic Priest Or Church Leader?
Survivors across the country continue to come forward with allegations involving clergy sexual abuse, institutional cover-ups and failures to protect children.
Learn more about Catholic Church sexual abuse lawsuits and your legal rights in our Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Guide.
Survivors Previously Told the Court About Decades of Abuse
The latest financial proposal follows years of litigation and unusually personal testimony from survivors.
In late 2025, more than a dozen survivors appeared during the bankruptcy proceedings and described abuse they said occurred when they were children.
Their accounts spanned decades.
Some described being altar boys or students in Catholic schools when priests allegedly groomed or assaulted them. Others spoke about the long-term effects on relationships, mental health, substance use and their ability to trust other people.
Several also alleged that church officials knew about abusive priests but failed to adequately intervene, including situations in which clergy were allegedly reassigned rather than reported or permanently removed.
Those accounts helped put a human face on what can otherwise look like an abstract bankruptcy proceeding involving trusts, insurers and creditors.
The proposed $83 million fund represents the financial side of that same process.
Survivor Committee Supports the Reorganization Plan
An important development is that the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors — the court-appointed committee representing survivors and other unsecured creditors — joined the diocese in filing the proposed reorganization plan.
That doesn’t mean the bankruptcy is finished. The plan still must go through the bankruptcy process and ultimately receive court approval before the settlement becomes effective and money can be distributed.
But committee support suggests the parties have moved considerably closer to resolving a bankruptcy that began more than three years ago.
LaValley has said he hopes the plan can be approved within the next several months.
From Survivor Testimony to a Proposed $83 Million Resolution
For survivors, approval of the bankruptcy plan would represent more than the end of a financial proceeding.
The claims underlying the case involve allegations that children were abused within institutions they and their families trusted, and that in some cases church systems failed to protect them afterward.
The proposed settlement cannot undo that harm.
But if confirmed, it would finally move the Ogdensburg bankruptcy from years of negotiations and testimony toward compensation for survivors and a legal resolution of claims that have followed the diocese for decades.
