Milwaukee archdiocese files financial statements in bankruptcy case

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed its financial statements in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Monday, listing $40.7 million in assets and $24 million in liabilities.

The filing is the first step in what is likely to be a protracted legal battle over assets available to the church to pay claims of clergy sex abuse victims.

The archdiocese maintains that most of its assets are in trusts or dedicated accounts that cannot be accessed for settlements, however attorneys for victims are expected to challenge that.

The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, saying it was the only way to equitably compensate victims and continue the work of the church. The archdiocese said at the time that it had about $7.1 million available for settlements. [Sounds like SNAP wanted more than that.  Probably way more; 30-40 million maybe?  How many schools do they need to shut down to hit that mark?  How many parishes to board up?  Maybe a hospital or two for good measure?]

The filing followed a breakdown in settlement talks with 24 men and women who were molested as children, 16 of whom have pending lawsuits against the archdiocese in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. They accuse the archdiocese of defrauding them by moving priests with known histories of sexual abuse from parish to parish without telling families of their background. [I wonder what efforts were taken canonically at the time?  It was a different time back then, but was recourse to Rome taken?  Sadly, I suspect the answer was yes.  Who besides seminarians would have know how bad the culture of the clergy had gotten at that time.]

The archdiocese said the talks collapsed after the plaintiffs' attorney rejected a $4.6 million settlement offer. The victims [trial lawyers] denied that assertion, saying they refused to discuss financial terms until the archdiocese agreed to their non-monetary demands, including the release of all documents pertaining to abuse in the archdiocese. [I still laugh every time I read this.  "Victims" want to expose more victims?  Since when do lawyers write for newspapers?]

JSOnline