The Franciscan Friars of California and its affiliated ministries, which includes Old Mission Santa Barbara, agreed this week to pay a $20 million settlement to 94 survivors of sexual abuse. The eight-figure agreement comes two years after the religious order filed for bankruptcy and amid ongoing litigation that could result in many more millions for the victims.
“This was an important piece of the puzzle,” said Santa Barbara attorney Tim Hale, who represents nine of the local survivors in their ongoing cases. “It was a really positive step in the right direction. But it ain’t over.” The Franciscans did not respond to questions by press time.
An estimated half of the 94 victims had some connection to Santa Barbara, either through the mission or the now-closed St. Anthony’s Seminary and its boys’ choir. The incidents of abuse date all the way back to the 1940s, with the most recent taking place in the late 1990s.
The raft of lawsuits against the Oakland-based order was sparked by a state law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for filing claims of sexual abuse. Faced with financial ruin, the Franciscans said in January 2024 that bankruptcy was “the only viable path to ensuring just, equitable, and compassionate compensation for all abuse survivors.”
But before the order filed for Chapter 11, court records show, it transferred at least $7 million to associated retreat centers and ministries to shield the money from bankruptcy proceedings. Old Mission Santa Barbara received $1 million of those funds. A forensic investigation uncovered the “fraudulent transfers” and they were reclaimed in the mediation process.
In public statements, the Franciscans said most of the offending friars have died, and of the six that are still alive, all have been removed from public ministry and are living under “strict third-party supervision.” The order stressed it was among the first in the country to confront its history of sexual abuse, not just by settling with victims but by publishing a disclosure list and by providing assistance to survivors.
The Franciscans have identified more than 50 friars accused of sexually abusing children in its ministries since 1950. Approximately half ― 26 ― were assigned to the mission or St. Anthony’s Seminary at some point in their careers, often after they’d been accused of molestation in another ministry, then reassigned to the Santa Barbara area.
This week’s bankruptcy settlement was secured by national law firm Lowenstein Sandler, with the $20 million coming from the Franciscans, their affiliates, and proceeds from settlements with the Franciscans’ insurers. The agreement was the culmination of 13 months of mediation among roughly 15 parties.
Lowenstein Sandler also serves as counsel to committees representing the interests of survivors in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland, and the Diocese of Camden in New Jersey.
Since the California law went into effect, religious entities in Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, and Santa Rosa have all filed for bankruptcy in the face of mounting lawsuits.
