Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

Clergy abuse survivors react to New York diocese's bankruptcy settlement

PJ D'Amico said he was a sixth grader the first time his priest sexually abused him. He said Fr. Alfred Soave, then-pastor at St. Hugh of Lincoln Church in Huntington Station, New York, abused him repeatedly through the eighth grade. D'Amico, 57, will receive compensation starting in 2025 from the Diocese of Rockville Centre. (Courtesy of PJ D'Amico) National Catholic Reporter January 16, 2025 By Sean Piccoli   Editor's note: The Catholic Church has spent billions of dollars settling claims from sexual abuse cases. National Catholic Reporter is investigating the costs to Catholics, parishes and the church in its new series "The Reckoning." NCR's investigative reports, including this series, are made possible in part through the generosity of Annette Lomont. This is Part 2 of a two-part story on the sexual abuse settlement in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York. You can read Part 1 here. PJ D'Amico said his "45-year ordeal" began the first time he was sexually abused by his priest.  D'Amico was a sixth grader who worshiped with his family at St. Hugh of Lincoln Church in Huntington Station, New York. He said the pastor at St. Hugh of Lincoln, Fr. Alfred B. Soave, abused him repeatedly through the eighth grade, including on the day of his confirmation. D'Amico, 57, is one of about 600 survivors of sexual abuse who will receive approximately $323 million in payments beginning this year from the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, which oversees St. Hugh of Lincoln and 135 other parishes on New York's Long Island. After four years of federal bankruptcy proceedings, the Diocese of Rockville Centre agreed to settle the claims brought by people who said dozens of priests and other adults employed by the diocese sexually abused them in previous decades. A federal judge approved the bankruptcy settlement in December, clearing the way for survivors to begin receiving restitution. For D'Amico, the settlement comes as both a relief and a painful reminder of a long struggle with a trusted institution that exposed him to lasting harm and then declared bankruptcy when faced with a deluge of lawsuits. "It was more like 'uncle' than 'do the right thing,' " he said of the diocese's ultimate decision to reach an agreement that will compensate him and other abuse victims. "They finally realized it was going to cost more not to settle and made a pragmatic decision." John Salveson, who said he was sexually abused by a Long Island priest beginning in 1969 at age 13  and received compensation from the diocese in 2017 under a different program, agreed that the bankruptcy settlement feels more practical than moral. "This is strictly an economic issue for them," Salveson told the National Catholic Reporter. "This is a risk-management issue for them. And I spent way too many years trying to get them to see this as a moral issue. They just don't think it's a moral issue." For his part, D'Amico said, "The monetary resolution is going to be both hard to accept and a relief to accept."