The Diocese of Camden in New Jersey has agreed to a $180 million settlement to resolve allegations of clergy sexual abuse, according to Bishop Joseph Williams, who announced the deal in a letter Tuesday. The diocese covers six southern New Jersey counties outside Philadelphia, and the settlement is intended to resolve claims raised by survivors in the state.
Williams, the bishop of the Camden diocese, said in the letter that the agreement was “long overdue” for survivors in South Jersey and represented “a milestone in their journey toward restored justice and the healing and recognition they have long sought and deserve,” the Associated Press reported. The announcement comes as the diocese continues through the legal and bankruptcy process tied to clergy abuse lawsuits.
Mark Crawford, state director of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, said the settlement was long overdue but welcomed the resolution as an end to a drawn-out process. In a Wednesday phone interview, Crawford praised Williams for what he characterized as listening to survivors and pledging transparency, and he contrasted the new approach with the diocese’s prior leadership.
Crawford said, “This settlement and this bishop have acted very differently,” and he added, “I hope it sends a message that this is possible, that this is right.” He framed the settlement as both a personal conclusion for those involved and a broader signal that the process could be handled differently than in the past.
Greg Gianforcaro, one of the attorneys representing victims suing the diocese, said survivors played a central role in reaching the agreement. He described the case as “an extremely long and arduous battle,” and he credited survivors’ persistence in pressing the diocese to the point of an accord.
According to Gianforcaro, the diocese has said there were about 300 survivors of abuse raising claims. The diocese, the AP said, still must obtain approval of the agreement from a bankruptcy court, leaving the settlement contingent on that judicial step.
The Camden settlement is part of a broader pattern of Catholic Church abuse litigation in the United States that gained wider attention more than two decades ago, after revelations in Boston. In the AP report, the Camden figure is described as higher than some earlier large settlements in other major dioceses, including roughly $80 million settlements in Boston and Philadelphia, while still falling below the range reached in some other cases, such as the $880 million payment agreed to by the Los Angeles Archdiocese in 2024.
The Camden diocese’s legal path has also included state investigation disputes. The diocese withdrew its objection to New Jersey’s grand jury investigation into decades of alleged sexual abuse of children, and the state Supreme Court later ruled that the investigation could proceed. The diocese then filed for bankruptcy amid a torrent of lawsuits after the statute of limitations was relaxed, the AP reported.