The Diocese of Camden reached a $180 million legal settlement agreement with a group of roughly 300 sexual abuse survivors who suffered at the hands of clergy.
The survivors are adults who were abused when they were younger. Many came forward after New Jersey passed a law extending the time that they could file claims against the Roman Catholic Church.
In a letter, Camden Bishop Joseph Williams, who was appointed in 2024, thanked them for coming forward.
“We believe you, we are sorry,” Williams said. “And we are committed to walking a different path with you going forward.”
The Camden Diocese oversees 62 South Jersey parishes with roughly 500,000 churchgoers.
The claims led the diocese to file for bankruptcy in 2020. The settlement amount due to each survivor will be decided by a federal bankruptcy court judge. Church officials say a trust will ensure payouts.
Claims were submitted under the New Jersey Independent Victims Compensation Program, which was created by the state’s five Catholic dioceses for claimants to come forward without filing lawsuits.
The legal issue dates to 2019 when then-New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal vowed to investigate potential clergy sexual abuse in each diocese. Though the Camden Diocese filed a lawsuit that stalled the investigation, and the case was sealed, the matter was reopened in 2025.
Williams, in his letter, said the abuse marked a painful chapter in the Church’s history. He thanked the Diocese for its willingness “to make a significant financial stretch in order to make the Church’s concern for the survivors even more credible.”
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