The Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and it’s hard not to believe that this is a legal move to avoid paying out judgments to those who are suing it after being sexually abused by priests.
http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/112878494.html
Archbishop Jerome Listecki announced the filing Tuesday, which — rather ironically — was the first anniversary of his installation. He told the press that the archdiocese had to file for protection so it could continue its ministries. More than a dozen fraud lawsuits have been filed against the church for its alleged cover-up of priest sex abuse cases.
“As a result of the horrific action of a few, there are financial claims pending agains the archdiocese that exceed our means,” Listecki said at a press conference that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel covered.
The Milwaukee archdiocese had tried, and failed, to reach a settlement with 24 victims who said they were sexually abused by priests when they were children, and 16 have filed lawsuits. The church reportedly had a $4.6 million settlement offer on the table for the victims, who allege that the archdocese defrauded them by transferring known-pedophile priests from one churce to another.
The failed settlment talks, and a court ruling that the church’s insurance companies aren’t liable in the cases, essentially forcing the archdiocese to seek bankruptcy protection, or so Listecki said.
The victims of sexual abuse immediately charged that the filing was merely a legal move to delay the plaintiffs from getting their day in court, in that now their civil lawsuits will be put on hold.
Milwaukee isn’t the first archdiocese to file for Chapter 11 protection after being socked with lawsuits by victims who were sexually molested by priests. Seven others have filed, as well.
The Milwaukee diocese has an operating budget of $24 million, according to the Journal Sentinel. As part of the bankruptcy process, it is likely that the diocese will calculate a figure for payment of claims from the lawsuits. It is expected that the sex abuse victims will challenge the amount that the churce allocates for the claims.
As the Journal Sentinel points out, the church could allocate $10 million to compensate the sex abuse victims, even if the claims are for $100 million. As a result, the victims could wind up with only 10 cents on the dollar for their claims.
Again, Archbishop Listecki claims that the “horrific actions of a few” have sparked the lawsuits. But it was more than a few who were complicent in the sex-abuse scandal. The church hierarchy in Milwaukee, and across the nation, had a consistent pattern of shuffling pedophile priests, sending them from church to church and therefore enabling them to continue hurting innocent children.
If there is any justice at all, the bankruptcy court shouldn’t allow the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to escape its financial responsibility, and liability, to the sex abuse victims who suffered at the hands of sick priests.
