Milwaukee Archdiocese denies ownership of Cousins Center

It is perhaps the most high-profile property owned by the Catholic Church in southeastern Wisconsin: a 415,000-square-foot complex on 44 acres along S. Lake Drive in St. Francis.

For years, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has said it is selling the Archbishop Cousins Catholic Center, valued as high as $10 million in recent years, and that it has mortgaged it to fund a $17 million sex-abuse settlement in California.

Now, four months into its bankruptcy, the archdiocese maintains that it has never owned the property that houses its offices and operations, and proceeds from its sale cannot be used to pay any settlement with Wisconsin victims as part of the bankruptcy.

In documents filed with the court and interviews with a church spokesman, the archdiocese now says it rents the Cousins Center in return for maintenance and upkeep from De Sales Preparatory Seminary Inc., a separate legal entity that was incorporated in 1961 to operate a now-defunct high school seminary at the site.

The rest at JSOnline

... uh, that's really weird.  I have no idea what to say on this one.  The archdiocese trying to pull a fast one?  If anyone else understands how they all of the sudden lost ownership, I'd like to hear about it. 

HT V