After years of mediation in the Baltimore Catholic Archdiocese bankruptcy case stemming from the abuse of children over nearly a century, the church’s largest insurer offered $100 million in settlement funds.

The offer, from The Hartford, is the first of its kind in the case, which has drawn scrutiny from survivors as some fear they may die before the case comes to a conclusion.

The offer is only one piece of the puzzle, as the archdiocese, its parishes and a handful of other insurance companies that hold accounts with the church still have not come to any agreement with the committee that represents the survivors.

Jonathan Schochor, founding partner and chairman of Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A., who represents survivors, said the funds cannot be paid out piecemeal and that the survivors still need to wait until all parties come to an agreement.

However, the offer may get the ball rolling for further negotiations.

“Is it an excellent good faith start? Yes,” Schochor said. “Will it generate some momentum for us as counsel for the committee? Yes.”

Counsel for the committee that represent the survivors have stated that the insurance companies have dragged their feet in shelling out claims to the archdiocese.

The church itself has also held up the litigation, taking multiple routes to delay or avoid paying the nearly 1,000 survivors that filed suits.

The committee is currently in the process of collecting financial data on all 31 parishes under the umbrella of the archdiocese.

The archdiocese says it is worth about a quarter of a billion dollars.

The church filed for bankruptcy in fall of 2023, just days before Maryland’s Child Victims Act, which allowed people to sue the church without a time limit, went into effect.