Most of proceeds from sale of Lloyd Harbor seminary property could go to clergy sex abuse survivors

The Catholic Church on Long Island is carving up one of its crown jewel properties — a former seminary in Lloyd Harbor — and some of the money could go to survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre and Lloyd Harbor Village officials have announced that a federal bankruptcy court has cleared the way for the sale to the village of 20 acres of the 216-acre property where the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception stands.

The sale was part of an agreement between the church and the survivors, who had sued the diocese over the 2017 transfer of the seminary property's deed from the diocese to the seminary. It provides that sale proceeds either go into a trust for the diocese or potentially go to the survivors if an overall settlement is reached in litigation for the 600 clergy sex abuse victims. 

New York State is buying another section of the sprawling, bucolic waterfront tract for walking, hiking and wildlife habitat.

Sean Dolan, a diocese spokesman, said the state is to pay $18 million for 180 acres and the village of Lloyd Harbor is to pay $2 million for 20 acres. The diocese retains 16 acres, he said, with the majestic seminary building and surrounding properties.

Under one scenario, involving a potential global settlement of all the sex abuse cases, 80% of the money would go to the survivors, Stang said. But since the outcome of the bankruptcy proceeding is so uncertain, the money could end up remaining with the diocese.

The seminary, which opened in 1930 but stopped training men for the priesthood in 2012 because of a shortage of candidates, would continue in its current use as a center for training lay people and hosting retreats, conferences and other activities, officials said.

In a statement, the diocese said: “The Seminary's settlement resolves any outstanding liabilities for the Seminary and enables it to continue its mission as a Retreat and Conference Center into the future."

The diocese, one of the largest in the nation, declared bankruptcy in 2020 because of the potential payout from some 600 lawsuits filed under the New York State Child Victims Act. The law allowed childhood victims of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attackers no matter how long ago the abuse occurred.

After the diocese declared bankruptcy, the cases were moved to U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Nearly three years of negotiations there for a global settlement mainly between the church and the survivors has failed, the diocese said this month. Judge Martin Glenn of U.S. Bankruptcy Court had set a deadline of Tuesday for the sides to reach an agreement.

Stang said it is unclear what will happen next in the bankruptcy proceedings, though one option is that Glenn sends all the cases back to state civil court where they were first filed under the CVA.

Regarding a global settlement, Stang said, “I don’t know that it will never happen, but it hasn’t happened as of today.”

Legal fees incurred during the negotiations for a global settlement have reached about $100 million, according to attorneys for survivors.

With Deborah S. Morris