Archdiocese of New York agrees to $800 million settlement over sexual abuse claims

JUST IN: The Archdiocese of New York agrees to an $800 million settlement with 1,300 survivors of sexual abuse by clergy and lay workers.

The Archdiocese of New York has agreed to pay eight hundred million dollars to survivors of sexual abuse.

The settlement covers one thousand three hundred people, abused by clergy and lay workers of the church. It is one of the largest payouts of its kind in American history, and it comes from the country's most prominent Catholic archdiocese, headquartered at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan.

The claims were made possible by New York's Child Victims Act, which opened a window for survivors to sue over abuse that in many cases happened decades ago. Many of those survivors have waited most of their lives to be heard.

Eight hundred million dollars divided by one thousand three hundred people is about six hundred thousand dollars each. No settlement returns a childhood. What it does is put the institution's responsibility on the record, in writing, with a number attached.

This is Liu Yang, reporting for HIT.