The Archdiocese of New York is reportedly in danger of bankruptcy unless it raises hundreds of millions of dollars to pay off roughly 1,700 people who allege priests and lay staff members sexually abused them as minors.<\/p>\n
Catholic parish pastors for the nation\u2019s second-largest diocese were told during an April 17 emergency meeting at St. Joseph College and Seminary in Yonkers that despite cost-cutting\u2014which includes $800 million in real estate selloffs over the past two years \u2014\u00a0\u00a0a $300 million fund to pay off the victims is still well short of what\u2019s needed to reach a global settlement,\u00a0Our Town reported.<\/a><\/p>\n The priests were told they\u2019d have to dip into their own parish coffers to collectively raise up to $400 million, or the archdiocese \u2013 which represents millions of Catholics in Manhattan, The Bronx, Staten Island and seven upstate counties \u2014 would be forced into bankruptcy.<\/p>\n Archdiocese of New York Archbishop Ronald Hicks (left) and his predecessor Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Paul Martinka for New York Post<\/p>\n \u201cThat is the nuclear option,\u201d said one pastor. \u201cIt would be a disaster for the archdiocese.\u201d<\/p>\n Individual costs could range from high six figures to several million dollars per parish. Some Catholic schools with independent foundations could be hard hit by the new levy, said a source.<\/p>\n \u201cThey will try to look at the books of each parish,\u201d said the source. \u201cIt will be a case of \u2018let us see how much you have in the bank, and we\u2019ll tell you how much you have to pay.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not going to be totally democratic,\u201d a pastor added.<\/p>\n The real estate sales have included its 20-story headquarters, the Terence Cardinal Cooke Center, on Manhattan\u2019s First Avenue for $103 million to a developer in July who plans to add six stories and convert it into high-rise housing.<\/p>\n Archbishop Ronald Hicks, who two months ago replaced the archdiocese\u2019s retired longtime leader Cardinal Timothy Dolan, was not at the emergency meeting. <\/p>\n It was overseen Bishop Edmund Whalen, who was appointed vicar general of the archdiocese by Hicks earlier this month.<\/p>\n The Archdiocese sold its 20-story headquarters, the Terence Cardinal Cooke Center, on First Avenue in Manhattan for $103 million to a developer in July who plans to add six stories and convert it into high-rise housing. Wikimedia<\/p>\n