Insurance stops where complicity begins.
The Archdiocese of New York enabled and concealed decades of rampant, horrific child sexual abuse. With substantial financial resources at their disposal, compensating victims should be the Archdiocese’s top priority. Chubb has pressed for transparency and accountability for years, yet the Archdiocese repeatedly refused to share crucial details regarding what they knew and when. The insurance purchased by the Archdiocese is designed to cover accidents, not to compensate for deliberately concealing a pattern of abuse. Insurance excludes this type of conduct for good reason as covering it would reward those who facilitate criminal behavior, rather than those who take vigilant steps to protect children.
Who’s Behind These Attacks?
The Archdiocese of New York has delayed payment to deserving victims of their clergy and staff’s child sex abuse for decades and won’t stop trying to shift the blame to insurers like Chubb. Meanwhile, Chubb has paid over $50 million to cover the Archdiocese of New York’s legal defense costs.
Even Cardinal Timothy Dolan, himself, has repeatedly attacked Chubb, most recently under the guise of his Season of Advent message. He accused the insurer of refusing to honor the policies it issued. In fact, it is the Archdiocese of New York that refuses to answer basic questions about what it knew about the horrific abuse caused by its clergy and staff and when they knew it.
Attacks have also come from the Catholic League, which claims to be the nation’s oldest and most prominent Catholic civil rights organization. The President of the Catholic League accuses Chubb of reneging on its responsibilities and taking a position that is morally indefensible and legally spurious. This is the same organization and individual which accused Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) of protecting child molesters (something the Archdiocese of New York did for decades) and the President of the Catholic League has asserted that the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church is more correctly classified as a "homosexual problem."
In addition to Archdiocese, Cardinal Dolan and the Catholic League, a shadowy group claiming to represent survivors popped up in 2023, echoing many of the claims made by the Church itself. There are also numerous connections between this so-called coalition and leadership of the Archdiocese, as detailed by the New York Daily News.
How do insurance experts view the dispute between the Archdiocese of New York and its insurers?
We asked one.
Dr. Robert Hartwig, PhD, CPCU, is the Director of the Center for Risk and Uncertainty Management at the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business. His research focus includes insurance markets and structures, and risk management, and he is regularly asked to present to insurance industry management, boards of directors, regulators, and legislators. Prior to joining USC, he was president and economist for the Insurance Information Institute and in prior positions worked for Swiss Re, the National Council on Compensation Insurance and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. His professional experience includes expert witness testimony and testimony before numerous congressional and state legislative committees. He holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) credential and speaks frequently in the media on all issues related to insurance markets.
Myth/Attack & The Facts
The Myth ❌
Chubb is responsible for compensating the survivors of child abuse by the Archdiocese of New York’s clergy and staff.
The Facts ✅
That’s not how insurance works. Chubb issued insurance policies to the Archdiocese of New York beginning in 1956. These policies don’t cover damages for "bodily injury that the insured expected or intended." When an insured perpetrates, tolerates, and hides a vast pattern of horrific child abuse across decades, no insurable ‘accident’ has occurred. It is the Archdiocese of New York that has the burden of proof to show facts that it is entitled to coverage under any of its insurance policies.
The Myth ❌
Chubb is delaying the process.
The Facts ✅
Chubb is doing its due diligence and asking the Archdiocese of New York for pertinent information to learn more about what the Archdiocese knew and when they knew it, but the Archdiocese refuses to be forthcoming. That’s why, in June 2023, Chubb sued the Archdiocese of New York to force them to provide a full accounting about these claims. Every insurance claim requires proof to show fault and damages. Details, evidence, witness statements, police reports — these are fundamental to validate loss, prove damage, and substantiate the claim.
The Myth ❌
The Archdiocese even had to sell its headquarters to compensate victims.
The Facts ✅
The Archdiocese has claimed that it sold its former headquarters to help pay off its victims of abuse, but the facts tell otherwise. In January 2024, the Archdiocese of New York announced plans to relocate its headquarters for the first time in 50 years. In July 2024, the Archdiocese announced the sale of its headquarters for more than $100 million dollars, with Cardinal Dolan himself stating, "It has been apparent for several years, however, that ‘1011′ no longer made sense as our home. The cost to maintain the physical structure, advances in technology which allow for more remote work, and a desire to be closer to the people we serve throughout the archdiocese, all led us to begin discussions on a possible move, in order to more effectively and efficiently utilize the resources of the archdiocese in service to our people." It wasn’t until October 2024, that the Archdiocese tried to rewrite history and claim that "the proceeds of that eventual sale will be used to ease the financial burden caused by the sexual abuse crisis."
The Myth ❌
The Archdiocese does not have the funds to pay their victims.
The Facts ✅
Despite claims that the Archdiocese of New York would be forced into bankruptcy if it had to compensate its victims, the Catholic Church has access to billions in resources to compensate its victims, including the hundreds of millions of dollars from recent real estate sales. In fact, as stated recently in the Free Press, "It is too wealthy to qualify for Chapter 11 protection. Because it owns well north of $1 billion worth of prime real estate, the lawsuits by victims have not put it in financial distress." Additionally, the Freee Press quotes Frank Napolitano, the chief administrator of the archdiocese saying, "We have the assets to cover all these claims, if need be.”
Additional Facts About the Archdiocese of New York’s Tactics
• Cardinal Dolan did everything in his power to prevent New York State from passing the Child Victims Act, even creating a so-called victims compensation fund in 2016, which attempted to persuade state lawmakers to avoid approving the new statute. Those efforts failed and New York passed the CVA in 2019.
• While victims wait to be compensated, over the past few years the Church has engaged in a series of real estate sales totaling more than $300 million.
• Cardinal Dolan himself has a sordid past when it comes to covering up and failing to compensate the victims of clergy abuse, starting with his time as the archbishop of Milwaukee, where he tried to keep nearly $57 million of church money away from abuse survivors by transferring the cash to a newly created "cemetery trust fund."