AB-218 Settlement
May all who suffer find hope and healing in Jesus Christ, and may the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Angels, be a mother to us all.
Most Reverend José H. Gomez
-Archbishop of Los Angeles
As part of an ongoing commitment to support victim-survivors of abuse, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles entered into a $880 million global settlement in October 2024 for the civil claims filed against the Archdiocese under California Assembly Bill 218 (AB 218). After adjustments for claimants that did not participate in the final settlement, the initial payment was made in August 2025 and the final payment on April 1, 2026.
The hope is that survivor-victims will be provided some measure of healing through this settlement as with the previous 2007 settlement and the ongoing pastoral settlements provided by the Archdiocese. While no amount of money can take away the pain that has been caused by past cases of abuse, these settlements provide just compensation to the survivor-victims while also allowing the Archdiocese to continue to carry out our ministries to the faithful and our social programs serving the poor and vulnerable in our communities.
Learn More about AB 218
California State Assembly Bill 218 (AB 218), which was passed in 2019, lifted the statute of limitations for a second time in California allowing civil claims of past sexual misconduct involving minors during a three-year window from 2020-2022. The FAQs contain answers to general questions regarding the AB 218 litigation and the recent settlement, as well as information on the ongoing efforts by the Archdiocese to support survivor-victims and prevent abuse.
Learn More About the ADLA’s Abuse Prevention Efforts
For more than two decades, following a Zero-Tolerance Policy on reporting, cooperating actively with law enforcement and training hundreds of thousands of adults and minors on abuse prevention, the Archdiocese has made significant strides to recognize and combat sexual abuse in our parishes, schools and other locations to ensure that current cases of misconduct with minors are now rare. Information and resources on the Archdiocese’s efforts to support victim-survivors, abuse prevention and protection of minors and the vulnerable are available.
Letter to the Faithful about the Settlement Announcement from October 2024
Through a process of active mediation, I believe we have come to a resolution of these claims that will provide just compensation to the survivor-victims while also allowing the Archdiocese to continue to carry out our ministries to the faithful and our social programs serving the poor and vulnerable in our communities.
LA Archdiocese to settle old abuse cases in new settlement
Announced Wednesday in a joint statement from archdiocesan counsel and a committee of plaintiffs’ lawyers, the global settlement caps a yearlong mediation process that followed California’s three-year revival of civil claims of past sexual abuse involving minors.
The Archdiocese has compiled all the claims involving clergy from both openings of the statute of limitations, those reported directly to the Archdiocese since 2002, and those presented under the Independent Compensation Program for Survivor-Victims of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests (ICP). From the information received, most cases involve clergy who have died or are no longer in ministry, with the alleged abuse having occurred in the 1970s and earlier.
The following graph illustrates the number of cases naming the Archdiocese and, to the extent identified by the claimant, when the alleged abuse occurred. Click here to view the chart.
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