Archdiocese of Baltimore insurer proposes $100 million settlement for abuse victims

An insurer for the Archdiocese of Baltimore has offered to contribute $100 million to a settlement for abuse victims there, the latest development in the archdiocese’s yearslong bankruptcy proceedings related to Church sexual abuse.

Court documents obtained by EWTN News show that the Hartford Insurance Group proposed the nine-figure payment in an April 3 filing in U.S. bankruptcy court.

The archdiocese originally filed for bankruptcy in September 2023 amid the threat of a wave of clerical abuse lawsuits. The filing was made ahead of the Maryland Child Victims Act taking effect in October of that year. That law ended the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits for negligence in relation to child sexual abuse.

The archdiocese did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2024 the archdiocese sued multiple insurers over what it claimed was a failure to pay abuse claims for which the insurers were contractually obligated.

Also in 2024, the archdiocese said it would close more than half of the parishes in its titular city, reducing 61 parishes to 23 in response to a plummeting population there.

Archbishop William Lori said the plan would allow the remaining Catholic churches to “focus on mission and ministry, as opposed to leaking roofs, crumbling walls, and failing electrical and plumbing systems.”

Insurance is often a “huge component” of clerical abuse payouts, though dioceses and archdioceses have several means by which they can fund settlements.

Dioceses will very often turn to local parishes to pay into settlement funds, usually stipulating certain percentages of cash reserves that parishes must contribute.

Property sales and contributions from affiliate organizations such as cemeteries often help to bolster a settlement fund as well.

Marie Reilly, a professor of law at Penn State University and an expert in bankruptcy litigation, including Catholic diocesan bankruptcy proceedings, told EWTN News in 2025 that starting in the 1990s, insurance companies mostly changed how they cover sexual abuse.

“Up until about the mid-’90s, a general liability policy used to include coverages for employee liability,” she said. “It would cover sex abuse claims against the diocese stemming from an employee’s abuse.”

“After 1996, insurance policies issued under new revised standards just don’t provide that coverage anymore,” she said.