Posted on Dec 29, 2022
US bankruptcy court approves $121M clergy abuse settlement
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A federal bankruptcy judge has approved a $121 million reorganization plan for one of the oldest Roman Catholic dioceses in the U.S. as it tries to stem financial losses from clergy abuse claims that date back decades
US bankruptcy court approves $121M clergy abuse settlement
Posted from abcnews.go.com
Religion
Christianity
Bankruptcy
Sexual Assault
Santa Fe
Posted >1 y ago
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PO3 Justin Bowen
Yes, it is troubling. Allowing these predators and the entire organization that protects them to simply go on doing ANY business in the US by absolving them of their debts is VERY troubling for Catholics.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."In a side agreement, five religious orders that faced pending lawsuits will pay an additional $8.4 million to be shared by certain claimants. The orders include the Servants of the Paraclete, which ran a now-defunct treatment center for troubled priests and was accused of furnishing the archdiocese with priests and other clergy who preyed on children and teens.
Archdiocese attorney Thomas Walker said that of 376 survivor claimants who cast ballots on the plan, four voted to reject and three did not indicate acceptance or rejection. At least two-thirds of the abuse survivors who filed claims had to approve the plan.
Albuquerque attorney Brad Hall said his legal team has dealt with more than 250 clergy abuse survivors over the decade leading up to the bankruptcy filing in December 2018 and have talked with family members of others who had heart-wrenching stories.
"As for the actual survivors, it is our hope that some small compensation, however inadequate it might feel like to some of them, will help with a sense of closure and some accountability,” Hall said.
The archdiocese sold numerous properties to come up with the final negotiated contribution, including the archbishop’s house in Albuquerque. The archdiocese also took out a mortgage on the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe.
Terence McKiernan, president of the nonprofit BishopAccountability.org, told the Journal that other dioceses in similar bankruptcy actions have had more survivor claimants and paid out less. He described settlement amounts during the mid-1990s as “terribly unfair.”
McKiernan said a key part of the settlement plan is the disclosure of documents, with redactions, by the archdiocese that will help the public understand how the clergy sexual abuse crisis occurred in New Mexico.
The archdiocese has said the document disclosure to a special library archive at the University of New Mexico will be unprecedented.
“It is highly significant that documents are included in such a massive way to be made available to everyone who wants to read them. It’s utterly remarkable,” said McKiernan, “It’s going to change our understanding (of the crisis) in a major way.”
..."In a side agreement, five religious orders that faced pending lawsuits will pay an additional $8.4 million to be shared by certain claimants. The orders include the Servants of the Paraclete, which ran a now-defunct treatment center for troubled priests and was accused of furnishing the archdiocese with priests and other clergy who preyed on children and teens.
Archdiocese attorney Thomas Walker said that of 376 survivor claimants who cast ballots on the plan, four voted to reject and three did not indicate acceptance or rejection. At least two-thirds of the abuse survivors who filed claims had to approve the plan.
Albuquerque attorney Brad Hall said his legal team has dealt with more than 250 clergy abuse survivors over the decade leading up to the bankruptcy filing in December 2018 and have talked with family members of others who had heart-wrenching stories.
"As for the actual survivors, it is our hope that some small compensation, however inadequate it might feel like to some of them, will help with a sense of closure and some accountability,” Hall said.
The archdiocese sold numerous properties to come up with the final negotiated contribution, including the archbishop’s house in Albuquerque. The archdiocese also took out a mortgage on the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe.
Terence McKiernan, president of the nonprofit BishopAccountability.org, told the Journal that other dioceses in similar bankruptcy actions have had more survivor claimants and paid out less. He described settlement amounts during the mid-1990s as “terribly unfair.”
McKiernan said a key part of the settlement plan is the disclosure of documents, with redactions, by the archdiocese that will help the public understand how the clergy sexual abuse crisis occurred in New Mexico.
The archdiocese has said the document disclosure to a special library archive at the University of New Mexico will be unprecedented.
“It is highly significant that documents are included in such a massive way to be made available to everyone who wants to read them. It’s utterly remarkable,” said McKiernan, “It’s going to change our understanding (of the crisis) in a major way.”
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The Orthodox, the Old Catholic Church, and Protestants figured out a long time ago that a married parochial clergy is the surest way to keep most 'those' criminals out of the church.
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