California Franciscans announce $20 million abuse settlement

The Franciscan Friars of California have announced a $20 million settlement with alleged abuse victims, with the eight-figure payout coming after the group filed for bankruptcy several years ago.

The friars announced in 2024 that they had filed a Chapter 11 petition “to address 94 child sexual abuse claims.”

The order said at the time that the dozens of claims came about due to California state laws that “allowed abuse survivors to file decades-old complaints that were otherwise time-barred or expired under the state’s statute of limitations.”

In a Feb. 4 filing, the friars said they had agreed to deposit $20 million into a trust for alleged victims of abuse. In a press release, the law firm of Lowenstein Sandler — which has represented the abuse victims in the case — said the settlement is “the culmination of over 13 months of mediation among roughly 15 parties.”

The California friars are “the first California-based religious entity to have filed for bankruptcy after the California statute of limitations was revived … to announce a settlement between the debtor and survivors of sexual abuse,” the law firm said.

Most accused friars deceased; abuse occurred decades ago

The friars when announcing the bankruptcy said that all of the alleged abuse at issue in the settlement “occurred at least 27 years ago,” with some dating back to the 1940s.

“Almost all of” the claims were filed in California, and “most of the friars named in the claims” are deceased.

“Of the six living friars, all have been long-removed permanently from all public ministry and ministerial environments and are living under strict third-party supervision,” the friars said at the time.

The Chapter 11 filing was “the only viable path to ensuring just, equitable, and compassionate compensation for all abuse survivors,” Father David Gaa, OFM, said in 2024.

“A process supervised by the bankruptcy court can resolve a multitude of claims efficiently, in a timely manner, and with equity,” the priest added.

The Feb. 4 filing says that the friars will retain ownership of multiple real estate holdings, including the Gibson Mine, a historic copper ore site the Franciscans received as a donation in 1969. The friars engaged in an extensive environmental remediation effort at the mine in the early 2000s.