Abuse Inquiries and Response Policies

Archdiocese of Boston 2003 Clergy Abuse Settlement

Civil Settlement

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "Archdiocese of Boston 2003 Clergy Abuse Settlement." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://www.divinityatlas.com/abuse-inquiries/archdiocese-of-boston-2003-abuse-settlement.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). Archdiocese of Boston 2003 Clergy Abuse Settlement. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://www.divinityatlas.com/abuse-inquiries/archdiocese-of-boston-2003-abuse-settlement

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-archdiocese-of-boston-2003-clergy-abuse,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {Archdiocese of Boston 2003 Clergy Abuse Settlement},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://www.divinityatlas.com/abuse-inquiries/archdiocese-of-boston-2003-abuse-settlement},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

On 9 September 2003, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston agreed to pay 85 million dollars to settle claims from 552 alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse, with individual awards ranging from 80,000 to 300,000 dollars depending on the severity and duration of the abuse alleged. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney approved the finalized agreement on 26 September 2003. The settlement followed Cardinal Bernard Law's resignation in December 2002 and the Boston Globe Spotlight Team's investigation, and was, at the time, the largest known payout by a US diocese to settle abuse claims, a record exceeded four years later by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles's 660 million dollar settlement.

Facts

Inquiry Profile

Kind of Record

Settlement 1

Jurisdiction

Massachusetts, United States (Suffolk Superior Court) 1

Publication Year

2003 1

Period Covered, From

from 2002 2

The Boston Globe Spotlight reporting made the clergy abuse crisis public in January 2002, which set off the wave of claims that led to the September 2003 settlement.

Period Covered, To

to 2003 1

Documented Findings

Accused Documented

140 1

The settlement covered allegations against 140 priests and two others.

Victim Estimate

552 1

Key Finding

The settlement was reached about a month after the archdiocese had first offered 55 million dollars, an amount claimants' attorneys had rejected as inadequate. It resolved more than 500 lawsuits at once rather than proceeding case by case, with the opt in deadline extended to 23 October 2003 and payments expected by 22 December 2003. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections