http:\/\/www.jsonline.com\/features\/religion\/112878494.html<\/a><\/p>\r\nArchbishop 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\u00a0so it could continue its ministries. More than a dozen fraud lawsuits have been filed against the\u00a0church for its alleged cover-up of\u00a0priest sex abuse cases.<\/p>\r\n
“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\u00a0Journal Sentinel covered.<\/p>\r\n
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\u00a0allege\u00a0that the archdocese defrauded them by\u00a0transferring known-pedophile priests from one churce to another.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
The failed settlment talks, and a court\u00a0ruling that the church’s insurance companies aren’t liable in the cases,\u00a0essentially forcing the archdiocese\u00a0to seek bankruptcy protection, or so Listecki said.<\/p>\r\n
The\u00a0victims 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\u00a0their civil lawsuits will be put on hold.<\/p>\r\n
Milwaukee isn’t the first\u00a0archdiocese to file for Chapter 11 protection after being socked with lawsuits by\u00a0victims who were sexually molested by priests.\u00a0Seven others have filed, as well.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
The Milwaukee diocese has an operating budget of\u00a0$24 million, according to the Journal Sentinel. As part of the\u00a0bankruptcy process, it is likely\u00a0that the diocese will\u00a0calculate a figure for payment of claims from the lawsuits.\u00a0It is expected that the sex abuse victims will challenge the amount that the churce allocates for the claims.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
As the Journal Sentinel points out, the church could allocate\u00a0$10 million to compensate the sex abuse victims, even if the claims are for $100 million.\u00a0As a result, the victims could wind up with only 10 cents on the dollar for their claims.<\/p>\r\n
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\u00a0shuffling pedophile priests, sending them from church to church\u00a0and therefore enabling them to continue\u00a0hurting innocent children.<\/p>\r\n
If there is any justice at all, the bankruptcy court shouldn’t allow the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to\u00a0escape its financial responsibility, and liability, to the sex abuse victims who suffered at the hands of sick priests.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0judgments 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[524,523],"class_list":["post-682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-milwaukee-archdocese-chapter-11-filing","tag-priest-sex-abuse-in-milwaukee"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t