Court records reveal the Archdiocese of New York is coordinating with a victims’ rights group as a way to avoid responsibility for payouts to victims of sexual abuse claims.
The archdiocese had denied any connection to the group called Coalition for Just and Compassionate Compensation (CJCC). But the church’s former chief financial officer has confirmed the church received updates on a communications plan for the CJCC while also saying the archdiocese had no role in the plan or its execution, according to a recent Bloomberg News story.
In a signed statement February 19 with the New York Supreme Court, former Archdiocese CFO William Whiston said he received fundraising notes for the CJCC. He says the communications were “informational only.” Some of the notes also included information about CJCC’s retention of SKDK, a communications and consulting group.
James R. Marsh, a founding member of CJCC and an attorney representing several of the sexual abuse survivors, also affirmed in signed statement.
“CJCC is a legitimate and independent organization supporting survivors of childhood sexual abuse,” Marsh said in his signed statement the same day. “Nothing in my involvement supports any claim that CJCC is a church directed or funded front organization shilling for the Archbishop.”
The CJCC has been critical of Chubb Ltd., the church’s insurance company, and denied the insurer’s claim that it is “ADNY in sheep’s clothing.” CJCC Executive Director Dave Catalfamo told Bloomberg his group never has received funding from the church and doesn’t know how Whiston received communications from the CJCC.
Chubb is the archdiocese’s primary insurer. Chubb sued the archdiocese in 2023 claiming the payouts to survivors of sexual abuse are outside the scope of what it should cover regarding the more than 1,500 child sexual abuse claims against the church filed under New York’s Child Victims Act. Both sides have accused the other of hiding links to groups claiming to advocate for survivors.
The archdiocese has accused Chubb of creating and funding a “shadow campaign” against it with a group called the Church Accountability Project. The church says Chubb has pretended to be a victims’ right organization attacking the archdiocese. Chubb denies the allegation, accusing the archdiocese of running its own operation to cover up decades of sexual abuse.
“The Archdiocese of New York has now admitted under oath to having the CJCC’s public relations campaign in their own files — further proof that the CJCC is just an arm of the ADNY,” a Chubb spokesperson told Bloomberg. “It’s time for the archdiocese to focus on compensating deserving victims.”
In a letter, Chubb Executive Vice President and General Counsel Joseph Wayland also noted personal ties between the two groups.
“David Catalfamo, Executive Director of CJCC, and John Cahill, Chancellor of ADNY, have worked closely together dating back at least 20 years when they both served as top aides to former Governor George Pataki,” he wrote, according to a New York Daily News story. “Mr. Catalfamo also served as the spokesperson for Mr. Cahill’s failed run for New York State Attorney General in 2014. Mr. Cahill was also one of the largest donors to Mr. Catalfamo’s own failed campaign for the New York State Assembly in 2022.”
Supreme Court Justice Suzanne Adams dismissed Chubb’s case, but a unanimous state appellate court ruling in 2024 said Chubb could proceed in its case.
Chubb says it has paid more than $50 million to cover the legal defense costs for the archdiocese.
Chubb says it has pressed for transparency and accountability from the archdiocese, which it says repeatedly has refused to share details regarding what they knew and when. Chubb says the insurance purchased by the archdiocese is designed to cover accidents and not to compensate for deliberately concealing a pattern of abuse.
New York Supreme Court case number 652825/2023
