The Archdiocese of New York is laying off staff to cover compensation for the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal, and says it may have to lay off more staff.
The cash-strapped church had already announced the sale of the archdiocese's Cardinal Cook headquarters building in Midtown.
“Such decisions are never easy, but given the current financial difficulties facing the archdiocese and the planned move to a new office in 2025, now is the time to make this difficult decision. It's the right time.” Cardinal Timothy Dolan wrote in a letter This month, he announced layoffs to the archdiocese's faithful.
According to the church and Catholic media, the pink banknotes were given to 18 employees, about 4% of the staff involved in the archdiocese's operations, and will help authorities focus more resources on parishes. It will save you more than a dollar.
“Our goal in all of this is to respond as effectively as possible to the needs of the people we are called to serve in the 10 counties and nearly 300 parishes that make up this archdiocese,” Dolan said. Ta. “Unfortunately, this restructuring has had the unfortunate result of some employees being laid off in the Cardinal Cooke Building at Catholic Center and other locations around the archdiocese.”
Mr. Dolan said the layoffs were “not a one-time event,” adding that at least the layoffs could lead to further layoffs soon.
The specific positions being laid off were not released because some affected workers have not yet been notified. The National Catholic Reporter said:
The archdiocese previously announced it would sell its 40,000-square-foot, 20-story headquarters at 1011 First Avenue between East 55th and 56th Streets for more than $100 million. Vanbarton Group is a developer of office and luxury buildings. Bought a prime property in Manhattanreported Spirit News.
Church personnel from that building will be relocated to a smaller building at 488 Madison Street, near St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue.
Dolan said the cost of numerous sexual abuse cases against the church remains a major financial concern. The archdiocese sued insurance company Chubb for refusing to pay a portion of the insurance claims.
“We have worked hard to resolve meaningful uninsured cases as justice for victims over the past years,” Dolan wrote in the letter. “We have resolved more than 400 cases through the Independent Settlement and Compensation Program (IRCP) and an additional 123 cases pursuant to CVA. [Child Victims Act of 2019].
“Approximately 1,400 cases of alleged abuse remain, some dating back to World War II! To be clear, not all of these allegations are against priests. In fact, the two largest groups of complaints are against former volunteer basketball coaches and former janitors… In the long run, all these lawsuits cost us a lot of money,” Cardinal said.
He said proceeds from the sale of the 1st Avenue building “will be used to alleviate the financial burden of the sexual abuse crisis.”
“Other properties are under careful consideration for sale. Our future financial strength will require additional strategy and sacrifice, and additional support from the archdiocese and from the parish and people. “Yes,” Dolan said.
He said some of the money saved would be returned to dioceses in the form of grants, for example, to organize special Masses for the immigrant communities that make up the archdiocese, which includes Manhattan, Staten Island, the Bronx and the northern suburbs. He said that it would be possible.
