Adelman invites mediation over archdiocesan cemetery trust

 

A federal judge has scheduled a Thursday hearing to gauge interest in trying to settle a contentious lawsuit over the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's now $66 million cemetery trust.

The trust is a key element in the archdiocese's plan to emerge from its 4-year-old bankruptcy in that it would be tapped both to compensate clergy sex abuse victims and fund the church's ongoing cemetery operations.

"There's always interest in settling litigation," said attorney Timothy Nixon, who represents Archbishop Jerome Listecki as the sole trustee of the trust. "However, we are just one part of a much larger picture."

James Stang, who represents the creditors committee, declined to say how it would view an offer of mediation. But he did say that any talks on the cemetery trust would likely be a de facto mediation in the bankruptcy case overall.

"The cemetery trust is the main moving part at this point," Stang said. "I can't imagine the parties going into a room to talk about that and not talk about the entire Chapter 11 case."

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman called the hearing to inquire whether the parties have any interest in mediation, according to the court record.

If they are, it would be the third attempt at a mediated settlement since January 2011, when the archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to address its sexual abuse liabilities going back decades.

The cemetery trust lawsuit was remanded to Adelman's court in March by the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The appellate court ruled that the archdiocese could not use the First Amendment and a 1993 law aimed at protecting religious liberty to shield the fund, and that U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa — whose decision it overturned — should have disclosed that he has family members in a cemetery maintained with funds from the trust.

The case could ultimately return to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley's court. But the parties are awaiting a decision in a U.S. Supreme Court case that is expected to clarify that procedure.

Meanwhile, the bankruptcy case is proceeding in Kelley's court. On Friday, the archdiocese filed motions seeking to keep two other pools of money from being tapped for the bankruptcy: $459,388 received as charitable gift annuities and a $2 million account that funds continued religious training for priests, deacons and parish directors.

Single largest asset

The cemetery trust is the single largest asset currently in play in the archdiocese's bankruptcy. And it is a linchpin of the church's revised reorganization plan, which is expected to be filed this summer.

Under the original plan, the archdiocese would set aside under $4 million to compensate 128 sex abuse victims — only those assaulted by diocesan priests. It would create a $500,000 therapy fund and pay the balance of its legal fees, which have totaled $16 million to $20-plus million, depending on who's counting.

More than 400 others who filed sex abuse claims, alleging abuse by religious order priests and nuns, teachers and others the archdiocese does not consider its direct employees, would receive no financial compensation.

The reorganization plan would be financed with a $10.3 million payment by its insurance carriers and a $2 million loan from the cemetery trust. Victims have called that inadequate and insulting.

The archdiocese told Kelley last week that it expects to increase the amount of the money the trust will pay into the plan, but did not specify how much.

The trust would also pay about $2 million annually to the archdiocese to offset the cost of caring for its eight cemeteries.

Trust created in 2007

Then-Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan created the Catholic Cemetery Perpetual Care Trust in 2007, and in 2008 transferred nearly $57 million into it with the approval of the Vatican and his local finance board. Dolan, now cardinal of New York, had sought Vatican approval, saying the move would provide "an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim or liability."

The archdiocese maintains that the funds were always held "in trust" for the care of the archdiocese's cemeteries, and that this new instrument merely formalized that arrangement.

Listecki sued the creditors committee, seeking a ruling that the trust was not an asset of the archdiocese and was off limits for any sexual abuse settlement.

The committee, which is composed of abuse victims but represents all creditors in the bankruptcy, countersued, calling Dolan's action a fraudulent transfer barred by law.

That ultimately led to the appellate court ruling, considered a big win for the creditors.

Kelley has scheduled a November hearing on the new reorganization plan. But other legal battles loom before it can be approved. Among them, whether Kelley has jurisdiction to grant parishes a blanket protection against future lawsuits — a key provision of the archdiocese's plan — and whether

Adelman invites mediation over archdiocesan cemetery trust

Woman excommunicated because she was ordained | Local News - WISN Home

 

Milwaukee native is looking forward to seeing the leader of the Catholic church in September, despite being excommunicated by that same church.

• Janice Sevre-Duszynska left Milwaukee in 1985 and headed to Lexington, Kentucky. It was there that she begged for ordination to become a priest.

She told church officials, "Why don't you just let me go to the seminary? You can send me to Mexico, I'll brush up on my Spanish. Put me wherever you want me."

She was told that she could not become a priest because she isn't a man.

WISN 12 News anchor Joyce Garbaciak asked her why she didn't become a priest in a religion that accepts women priests.

"That just doesn't make sense to me at all," she answered. "I'm a daughter of the church, and I won't abandon my family."

Undeterred, she received ordination through the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests in 2008. To learn more, visit its website here.

A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee reiterated the church's stance that only a baptized man can validly receive sacred ordination.

Sevre-Duszynska has continued her activism for the cause. She invited Milwaukee Jesuit Bill Brennan to celebrate Mass with her in 2012.

He did, and he was stripped of many of his priestly duties because of it.

Brennan died in 2014 and never spoke publicly about the topic of woman ordination until a series of videos he had recorded on his deathbed were released after he died.

Sevre-Duszynska also suffered consequences advocating for women's ordination. She recently received a decree of ex-communication from the church.

She rejects the idea.

"We don't accept excommunication because you're part of a church community when you're baptized," she said. "You can't rescind your baptism."

Julie Wolf, of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, said the choice belonged to Sevre-Duszynska.

"It's sad when people deliberately separate themselves from their church," she said.

Sevre-Duszynska said her group will be in Philadelphia ordaining bishops at the same time Pope Francis is scheduled to visit. She is nominated to be one of many female priests elevated to bishop.

She hopes that the pope and other leaders of the church will someday be open to the idea of women priests.

"God has created us equally," she said. "We need these men to open up their hearts and take up the example of the gospels." 

 

Woman excommunicated because she was ordained | Local News - WISN Home

Looking Past Cardinal Dolan's Hearty Smile | Michael D'Antonio

 

In Rome, Vatican watchers like to say that the institutional Catholic Church measures time not with a clock, but with a calendar, and that its memory is as durable as the records in its archives, where Galileo's signature, preserved in the documents from his famous trial, looks like it was penned yesterday. In America the one institution that might match the Vatican when it comes to memory and deliberative care is our system of justice where, according to the reliable cliché, the wheels grind slowly. But grind they do and they are gradually revealing the character behind the façade of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan's hearty smile and twinkling eyes.
In the most recent turn in the struggle for justice by victims of clergy sexual abuse, a federal judge found that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee cannot stash $55 million in a trust devoted to cemeteries and deny litigants access to the money as they sue for compensation. Victims of predator priests have used the courts to seek both the documented truth and financial compensation for more than a decade.

The architect of the trust fund idea was then Archbishop of Milwaukee Dolan, who was subsequently made cardinal of New York by Pope Benedict XVI.

Before he shocked the Church by resigning, Benedict stood as the symbol of the Vatican's immoral and schizophrenic response to abuse as he spoke empathetically but acted to shield both clergy and the Catholic treasury. Dolan practiced the same duality, posing as a Christ-like figure of compassion in meetings with victims but acting as if he never heard the admonition to the greedy contained in the gospel of Luke. Indeed, after establishing the trust he then sought the protection of the bankruptcy court for the rest of the assets of the archdiocese. This strategy was replicated elsewhere in the country as bishops, who understood that victims had won billions of dollars in compensation, recognized in Dolan's example a way to evade claims.

Created just as the state of Wisconsin was moving to permit victim lawsuits against the official church, Dolan's enormous trust fund was described by the archdiocese as a vehicle for the care of eight burying grounds. For the care of clergy victims Milwaukee church officials proposed $4 million, less than 10 percent of the sum earmarked for the dead, to be split by 128 claimants. An additional 450 people who came forward to accuse priests of sexual abuse would have been given nothing because they failed to meet certain legal, not moral, criteria.

Although it was explained in straight-faced seriousness, the notion that this much money would be required for a cemetery trust is hard to square with the experience of leaders at local churches who manage to cut the grass and plow pathways at their cemeteries with the aid of volunteers and revenues from the sale of plots. Court documents show that indeed, the cemeteries of the archdiocese actually operated at a profit of roughly $500,000 per year and the trust gave almost four times as much -- $1.95 million annually -- to headquarters in downtown Milwaukee.

So far, the archdiocese has spent more than $11 million in legal fees to wage its battle with victims in bankruptcy court. The cemetery excesses, since the trust was established, have totaled almost $8 million. Add these moneys to the $55 million secreted away by Dolan and you get an amount -- $74 million -- that would approach a reasonable settlement figure. These facts, revealed by the grinding wheel of American justice, represent the truth behind the hail-fellow-well-met image Dolan has cultivated. Although he has seemed a bit out of step since his sponsor, Benedict, was replaced by the more humble Francis I, Dolan has insisted that he has made no effort to change his style or practice. In view of how this vicar of Christ chose to represent Jesus when he managed the money in Milwaukee, that's too bad for New Yorkers.

Looking Past Cardinal Dolan's Hearty Smile | Michael D'Antonio

WisBar News: Milwaukee Archdiocese Loses Federal Appeal on $55 Million Transfer:

 

the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled that protections on religious freedom won’t protect a $55 million transfer that diminished the Archdiocese's bankruptcy estate.

In 2008, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee transferred $55 million to a trust fund designated to maintain cemeteries it owned in Milwaukee, after seeking approval from the Vatican.

According to court records, a letter to the Vatican indicated that the transfer would protect funds from legal claims and future liability. The Vatican approved the transfer.

In 2011, amidst civil fraud lawsuits that stemmed from sexual abuse by priests, the Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection. 

Sexual abuse victims sought to void the $55 million transfer as fraudulent, in violation of the Bankruptcy Code, in order to make those funds reachable by them as unsecured creditors with claims against the Archdiocese’s bankruptcy estate.

The Archdiocese argued that the $55 million was protected as necessary to maintain cemeteries under Canon Law obligations. Specifically, the Archdiocese argued that the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA) barred application of the Bankruptcy Code provisions, because the transfer was made for religiously protected purposes.

RFRA prohibits the “government” from placing substantial burdens on a person’s exercise of religion, without a compelling interest achieved by the least restrictive means, even if the government’s law or regulation is generally applicable to everyone. The government includes government officials or persons acting “under color of law.”

The Archdiocese argued that RFRA applies because the U.S. Trustee, which oversees the administration of bankruptcy cases, appointed a Creditors’ Committee – consisting of sex abuse victims – to represent the Archdiocese’s unsecured creditors in the case.

Thus, the Archdiocese argued, the Committee was acting “under color of law.” The Archdiocese also argued that the transfer is protected by the First Amendment.

The appointed Committee of victims argued that RFRA did not apply because the Committee is not a government actor. It also contested the Archdiocese’s First Amendment defense, and argued the district court judge should have recused himself because he has family members buried at cemeteries owned by the Archdiocese.

District Judge Rudolph Randa ruled that RFRA and the Free Exercise Clause barred application of the Bankruptcy Code provisions against the $55 million.

In Listecki v. Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (March 9, 2015), a three-judge panel for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Archdiocese’s RFRA and First Amendment defenses to the transfer, but did not rule on the recusal issue.

First, the panel said RFRA did not apply because the Committee is not a government actor, and RFRA only protects government actions that substantially burden religion.

“Although each determination of an entity’s governmental actor status is fact- and case-specific, our conclusion that the Committee is not a governmental actor is supported by the Supreme Court’s precedent,” wrote Judge Ann Claire Williams. “There might be a ‘nexus,’ between the Committee and the government, but it is not a close one.”

The panel also ruled that the First Amendment’s free Exercise of Religion Clause does not bar application of the Bankruptcy Code provisions to the $55 million transfer, even though the First Amendment can apply in private civil suits.

“The Code and its relevant provisions are generally and neutrally applicable and represent a compelling governmental interest in protecting creditors that is narrowly tailored to achieve that end,” Judge Williams wrote for the panel.

The Bankruptcy Code may be used to void certain transactions, including fraudulent and “preferential” transfers that would allow the debtor to avoid inclusion of certain funds into the bankruptcy estate, which is subject to creditors. The Archdiocese said certain Code provisions are not neutral because they target religious organizations.

But the panel explained that such provisions do not prohibit the practice of religion and do not single out religious practice. “Anyone, regardless of religion or beliefs, can donate money to a qualified religious or secular charitable organization under the Code and qualify for avoidance – no religion or religious practice is required,” Williams wrote.

Even assuming the Bankruptcy Code’s provisions substantially burdened the Archbishop’s religious belief by disallowing a monetary transfer that supports cemetery maintenance, the panel said the government had a compelling reason.

“The Committee’s asserted compelling governmental interest is the protection of creditors. We agree that this is a compelling governmental interest that can overcome a burden on the free exercise of religion,” wrote Judge Williams, noting that the Bankruptcy provisions are narrowly tailored to protect the creditors’ interests.

The panel did not rule whether the $55 million transfer actually violated the Bankruptcy Code provisions, only that RFRA and the First Amendment do not prevent the code’s application: “[I]f the case reaches that stage, the adjudicator can consider the issue of whether the transfer of the Funds ran afoul of any of the Challenged Provisions.”

See more at:  SWisBar News: Milwaukee Archdiocese Loses Federal Appeal on $55 Million Transfer:

Judges dismisses key sex abuse claims against archdiocese

 

The judge in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy on Wednesday dismissed nine sexual abuse claims involving priests and a counselor at a Catholic social service agency — the largest group of victims eliminated from the 4-year-old bankruptcy to date.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley threw out nine of 10 claims challenged by the archdiocese, saying seven of the victims failed to show evidence of fraud — the basis for their claims — and that lawsuits by two others had previously been dismissed by state courts.

The judge left one claim standing, at least for now: a man who alleges he was molested by the late Rev. Lawrence Murphy as a boy at St. Lawrence School for the Deaf in the 1970s. Murphy, one of the archdiocese's more prolific abusers, is believed to have molested as many as 200 boys over several decades.

Kelley said evidence suggests the archdiocese may have known as early as the 1950s that Murphy was molesting deaf boys at the school and failed to remove him, and that such disputes over facts must be litigated rather than dismissed on summary judgment as the archdiocese had asked.

The 10 claims taken up Wednesday — all identified by number because their claims were filed under seal —had been seen by some as test cases that could be used to dismiss large numbers of similar claims.

Victims voiced anger and disappointment at Kelley's dismissals of the nine. Arthur Budzinski, who also was molested by Murphy, drew little consolation from the other survivor's legal victory.

"It's ugly," Budzinski said through a sign language interpreter.

He lashed out at the archdiocese and its attorneys, who challenged the admissibility of the evidence against Murphy, including a letter from a Chicago priest who said he had reported Murphy to then-Archbishop Albert Meyer in the 1950s.

"The church needs to be honest. It's not being honest," he said.

Monica Barrett, whose claim involving the late Rev. William Effinger was disqualified because of a prior state court ruling, called Kelley's decision "a travesty of justice."

Barrett took issue with the judge's characterization of pedophile priests as "a few bad apples."

"That's insulting and demeaning to every survivor who suffered at the hands of these criminals," she said. "Let's call them what they are: criminals."

Jerry Topczewski, chief of staff for Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki, said Kelley's ruling affirms what the archdiocese has said for years about most of the sex abuse allegations against its priests — "that the vast majority of abuse was not known to the archdiocese until years after it occurred."

The 10 survivors are among the more than 500 individuals who filed sex abuse claims seeking compensation. The claims considered Wednesday involved some of the archdiocese's most notorious sex offenders, including Murphy, who is believed to have molested some 200 boys over the years; Effinger; and the late Rev. George Nuedling.

Wednesday's hearing was the latest legal battle in a costly and contentious bankruptcy filed by the archdiocese in January 2011 to address its sexual abuse liabilities dating back decades — and the latest in a string of legal victories for the archdiocese in the Chapter 11 proceedings.

Barred by Wisconsin courts from asserting negligent supervision — the claim asserted in most church abuse cases around the country — survivors allege instead that the archdiocese defrauded them by moving problem priests from post to post without divulging they were a danger to children.

Six of the survivors were unable to show Wednesday that the archdiocese knew about their abusers before they were molested because theirs were the first allegations to surface against those offenders. One, involving an unnamed priest, is the first and only accusation against that cleric, the archdiocese said.

Legal fees in the bankruptcy have totaled more than $16 million, according to the archdiocese. However, victims' attorneys and the advocacy group Survivors Network of Those Who Have Been Abused by Priests put it at more than $20 million. Each side accuses the other of dragging the case out by litigating every possible point. Under bankruptcy law, the archdiocese pays the bill for both sides…..

Read the entire article buy clicking on the following:  Judges dismisses key sex abuse claims against archdiocese

Twin Cities archdiocese files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy | INFORUM

….

14th Catholic bankruptcy

Friday's filing marks the 14th Roman Catholic organization or group to file for bankruptcy protection since 2004. He's been involved in eight of them, he said.

"We will do this in a way that it's never been done before," Anderson said at a press conference in his office Friday. "In a way that can bring healing, it can bring compensation, it can advance change and not fight and get involved in contention and adversary relationships.

Past bankruptcies have varied widely, Anderson said. The average resolution takes about two years. Some have taken longer. The bankruptcy case of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, for example, remains unresolved after four years. Anderson said the archdiocese there has contested all victims' claims and has haggled over how much will be paid to claimants.

Compensation for victims has also varied. In the Diocese of Helena, Mont., Anderson said victims received about $42,000 each. In the Diocese of San Diego, victims were awarded almost $1.4 million each.

It's unclear how much money will be made available to the more than 100 claimants here. That could hinge on whether the archdiocese contests validity of claims and on availability of insurance coverage, which is in dispute.

Anderson said for most victims, it's not about the money.

"It's really about making sure that other kids are not hurt, making sure they've done something to prevent it from happening in the future, and holding those responsible accountable in some way," Anderson said. "The filing of this bankruptcy ... doesn't keep us and the survivors with whom we're working from pursuing that objective."

More time to sue

In November, the archdiocese said its operating deficit can be partly attributed to the $4.1 million it has spent to address claims of clergy sexual abuse since May 2013, when the Minnesota Legislature opened a three-year window for victims to file claims against their abusers for abuse that occurred many years ago.

Since the act went into effect, 25 lawsuits have been filed; two have been settled.

Three lawsuits were scheduled to go to trial Jan. 26. Those proceedings are now stayed and their claims, along with any new claims, will be incorporated into the bankruptcy case.

Archdiocese officials said in November that because of the "significant number" of claims they've been told will be filed, the archdiocese could no longer draw from budget reserves.

Total operating revenue for the year ending June 30, 2014, was $25.5 million, compared with $32.7 million in 2013.

That decrease was largely due to a $7.7 million drop when the Catholic Services Appeal was shifted into a separate nonprofit organization at the start of 2014. The move assured donors that their contributions would go directly to specified ministries, instead of flowing through the chancery.

The archdiocese's chief financial officer, Thomas Mertens, wrote in the Nov. 20 issue of the Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the archdiocese, how a reorganization would affect operations:….

 

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Twin Cities archdiocese files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy | INFORUM

Archdiocese wins latest dispute in bankruptcy over sex abuse

 

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee won a victory in its bankruptcy on Thursday in a dispute that turned on the promise of confidentially granted victims of childhood sex abuse when they brought allegations forward.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley refused to compel the archdiocese to provide attorneys for one group of abuse survivors with unredacted documents that could potentially identify other survivors who had an expectation of anonymity.

Instead, Kelley agreed to review dozens of abuse claims to see if there was evidence that would warrant a limited — and still not public — release of the documents, with names of victims and or witnesses.

"I'm denying the motion," Kelley told attorneys for five abuse survivors.

"I'm sorry," Kelley said, "but I have to weigh what I think is the fairness... and the rights of these people."

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee is in the fifth year of a complex and contentious bankruptcy to address allegations of sexual abuse by priests. The abuse claims accuse the church of defrauding victims by moving problem priests from post to post without divulging their histories. The archdiocese is attempting to get the claims dismissed.

The latest skirmish stems from a summary judgment motion filed by the archdiocese to move ahead with its objections to 11 of the claims.

Attorneys for the 11 said they needed the unredacted documents to adequately respond to the summary judgment in five of those cases. In those five, the archdiocese asserts it had no prior complaints about the offending priests at the time these victims were abused. Michael Finnegan, whose firm represents the 11, said the veracity of that assetion can't be determined without speaking to witnesses whose names have been redacted in the documents.

Read more by clicking on the following:  Archdiocese wins latest dispute in bankruptcy over sex abuse

Milwaukee archdiocese reaches $2.3M settlement with insurers; half proposed for abuse victims - Milwaukee - Milwaukee Business Journal

 

The latest settlement would bring to $5.15 million the total amount available to people who have sought compensation. The new settlement figure was included in a motion filed Wednesday and is subject to approval by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Susan Kelley in Milwaukee.

"Our relentless pursuit of insurance carriers has brought $10 million into the (reorganization) plan," archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski told the Milwaukee Business Journal Friday.

Lloyd's of London previously agreed to pay $8 million to the archdiocese with $4 million of that planned as payments to clergy abuse victims and $4 million to pay the administrative costs of the case. The new development involves a settlement with OneBeacon Insurance Co. and Stonewall Insurance Co.

The archdiocese reached the latest settlement after mediation with insurers including OneBeacon and Stonewall.

Kelley has scheduled a hearing on the archdiocese settlement motion for Feb. 10, 2015.

Read the entire article:  Milwaukee archdiocese reaches $2.3M settlement with insurers; half proposed for abuse victims - Milwaukee - Milwaukee Business Journal

Priests join abuse survivors in call for papal investigation of Milwaukee archdiocese - JSOnline

 

group of sex-abuse victims and their supporters, including three Catholic priests, are asking Pope Francis to investigate the actions of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in its dealings with abuse survivors in the context of its nearly 4-year-old bankruptcy.

An open letter to the pontiff, released this week, raises many of the same concerns and allegations victims have raised during the bankruptcy. Among them: That the archdiocese cast a wide net inviting victims to file claims in the bankruptcy, but is now seeking to have them all dismissed; that it moved $57 million in cemetery funds into a trust to keep it from being used for settlements; and that the archdiocese would rather pay attorneys to fight claims than compensate survivors.

The letter was signed by members of the Milwaukee-based Survivors and Clergy Leadership Alliance and the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. Signers include four victims, at least three of whom have filed claims in the bankruptcy; and a couple whose son, John Pilmaier, was molested at the age of 7 in his Catholic School. Two of the signers -- Peter Isely and Pilmaier, local leaders of SNAP -- have had their cases thrown out. Pilmaier had already received a $100,000 settlement from the archdiocese, but argued that he had been misled during his mediation. Isely's was dismissed as beyond the statute of limitations for fraud.

Two Milwaukee-area priests are among the signatories: the Rev. James Connell, the archdiocese's former vice chancellor; and the Rev. Howard Haase of St. Mary's Parish in Waukesha.

Read the rest of the article by clicking on the following:  Priests join abuse survivors in call for papal investigation of Milwaukee archdiocese - JSOnline

Judge rules for insurer in archdiocese bankruptcy issue

 

OneBeacon said it has already paid $400,000 to the archdiocese as part of its bankruptcy, according to the court record. And the archdiocese has sued it for an additional $2.6 million in legal fees.

Randa said OneBeacon is likely to prevail at the Supreme Court.

In the meantime, Randa said, "OneBeacon is stuck paying defense costs that the state courts have already said OneBeacon is not legally obligated to pay.

"In essence," Randa continued, "OneBeacon is being held hostage, forced to bankroll an interminable and highly contentious bankruptcy proceeding. The automatic stay is the only thing that stands in the way of clarity for OneBeacon and the Archdiocese."

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Judge rules for insurer in archdiocese bankruptcy issue

Talks between Milwaukee Archdiocese, bankruptcy creditors continue

 

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee and its bankruptcy creditors have failed to reach a settlement after two days of negotiations, but the parties have agreed to continue settlement talks in two weeks.

The parties are scheduled to return to the negotiating table for two more days of talks Sept. 22 and 23, said Michael Finnegan, whose St. Paul, Minn., law firm represents most of the 575 men and women who have filed sex abuse claims in the bankruptcy.

He declined to comment on the round of talks that concluded Tuesday in Minnesota, or to speculate about prospects for a settlement.

Jerry Topczewski, chief of staff for Archbishop Jerome Listecki, who was in Minnesota for the meetings, could not be reached for comment.

The archdiocese sought the mediation in hopes of emerging out of its nearly 4-year-old bankruptcy. Legal fees in the case have topped $13 million.

The mediation included lawyers for the archdiocese; its creditors committee, which is composed of sex abuse victims; and the $60 million trust created by the archdiocese for maintenance of its cemeteries. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley also urged the archdiocese's insurers to take part, but it was not clear whether they did.

The mediation appears to be a last-ditch effort to come up with a negotiated settlement before the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals issues its ruling on a key question related to the cemetery trust. At issue is whether forcing the archdiocese to tap even $1 of the cemetery trust to fund the bankruptcy estate — and ultimately pay sex abuse settlements — would violate its free exercise of religion.

The archdiocese says it would. The creditors committee — which is composed of abuse victims but represents all creditors — rejects that argument.

A decision favoring the creditors would likely spawn a new round of costly court battles in the case.

Above is from:  http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/talks-end-without-settlement-between-archdiocese-bankrupcy-creditors-b99348407z1-274545211.html

Milwaukee church bankruptcy headed to mediation

M.L. JOHNSON, Associated Press

A reorganization plan proposed by the archdiocese earlier this year would give 128 victims roughly half of an $8 million insurance settlement. Others who have filed claims would receive nothing. Meanwhile, attorneys' fees are now estimated at $13.7 million, and victims have been outraged by the idea that attorneys would receive more money than them.

Bankruptcy Judge Susan Kelley said during a morning hearing that she would likely issue a written order later in the day for mediation to take place in early September.

"The point of this is to try to negotiate a resolution quickly and stop the legal fees," she said.

A mediation attempt in 2012 failed, in part because the archdiocese maintained there were too many issues to hash out. A sticking point this time could be whether the archdiocese's former insurers participate.

Read the rest of the article by clicking on the following:  http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com/story/news/local/2014/07/30/milwaukee-archdiocese-owes-millions-in-legal-fees/13358039/

Ex-Milwaukee archbishop told he can't spend final days at St. Vincent Archabbey

 

By Richard Gazarik

Thursday, July 24, 2014, 1:42 a.m.
Updated 22 hours ago

Retired Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland, who fell from grace in the Roman Catholic Church amid a sex and financial scandal, had hoped to return to St. Vincent Archabbey on Sept. 1 to live out his final days.

But the archabbey has withdrawn its invitation to the elderly cleric, he said.

Weakland, 87, said Archabbot Douglas Nowicki broke the news during a phone call last month, despite his ties to the Benedictine monastery for more than seven decades.

“He asked me to postpone indefinitely my coming,” Weakland told the Tribune-Review in a phone interview. “You don't want to interfere in the house, so I'm going to stay here. I did want to spend my final days there.”

Kim Metzgar, director of public relations at the archabbey in Westmoreland County, declined to comment.

Once a leading and influential voice in the Catholic Church on theological and social issues, Weakland was toppled in the church hierarchy in 2002 by a disclosure that he paid $450,000 in diocesan funds to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who claimed he was the archbishop's lover.

In his book, “A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop,” Weakland revealed he is gay.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/westmoreland/6494915-74/weakland-vincent-archabbey#ixzz38Ru4FxVo
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Federal appeals judges question Milwaukee archdiocese's claims about cemetery trust fund

 

Federal appeals court judges on Monday questioned the bankrupt Archdiocese of Milwaukee's claim that it needs all the money in a $55 million trust fund to maintain its cemeteries and asked whether some could be used to compensate victims of clergy sexual abuse without violating the Catholic faith.

The three judges grilled attorneys in a dispute over a cemetery trust fund created by New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan when he was archbishop of Milwaukee. A federal judge in Milwaukee previously ruled the money was off-limits to the hundreds of sexual abuse victims who have filed claims against the archdiocese in bankruptcy court.

The lawsuit has potentially far-reaching consequences because many Catholic dioceses hold money in trust. A victory for victims in Milwaukee could pave the way for others elsewhere.

….The appeals court's decision in this case will affect about 85 other victims who also filed bankruptcy claims after signing settlements. It could be weeks or months before the judges issue opinions in the two cases.

Click on the following to read all of the story: Federal appeals judges question Milwaukee archdiocese's claims about cemetery trust fund

Arguments scheduled in lawsuit over archdiocese cemetery funds

 

 

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Oral arguments in a lawsuit involving the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's cemetery trust funds — and two other related cases — have been scheduled for June 2 before the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The lawsuit was filed as part of the Archdiocese's bankruptcy.

At issue is whether forcing the archdiocese to tap its $60 million cemetery trust to fund a bankruptcy settlement would violate its free exercise of religion under the First Amendment and the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley ruled it would not. But U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa overturned that decision. This is an appeal of Randa's ruling.

Also on June 2, the court will hear oral arguments on:

■ Whether Randa's purchase of plots in the archdiocese's cemeteries and the fact that he has numerous relatives buried in them constitute a conflict of interest that would bar him from ruling on issues related to the cemetery trust lawsuit.

■ Whether Kelley erred in prohibiting a sex abuse victim with a claim in the bankruptcy from submitting information from the mediation process he entered into with the archdiocese. The survivor, who was molested by the late Father Lawrence Murphy at St. John's School for the Deaf in the 1970s, alleges that the archdiocese misrepresented, among other things, its financial position when it offered him an $80,000 settlement.

Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/arguments-scheduled-in-lawsuit-over-archdiocese-cemetery-funds-b99263163z1-258024941.html#ixzz30wA4qotq
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Archdiocese survey finds diverging views among area Catholics

 

 

The majority of Catholics responding to a survey by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee do not accept church teachings that ban artificial contraception or prohibit divorced and remarried members from receiving the sacraments.

They believe the church should permit same-sex unions. And they do not consider the church as the moral authority on issues related to the family.

Those are among the findings of a first-of-its-kind survey of area Catholics solicited by Pope Francis and posted last month on the archdiocese's website.

The results of the survey, conducted at Francis' behest by dioceses around the world, will provide the context for an extraordinary synod on marriage and the family planned by the Vatican for October

The 1,300 respondents represent just a fraction of the 10-county archdiocese's reported 600,000 members. And the results aren't particularly surprising: They're in sync with those in other U.S. dioceses that have made theirs public, and research has long suggested that Catholics mirror the broader society on many social issues.

Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/news/religion/milwaukee-archdiocese-survey-questions-church-on-family-issues-b99258971z1-257418241.html#ixzz30QnIbmcv

The survey results are available at:   http://www.archmil.org/ArchMil/Resources/COMM/2014ExtraordinarySynodResults.pdf

Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy plan to be put to vote | FOX 11 Online | WLUK-TV

 

The archdiocese has maintained that it is liable only for abuse committed by its priests, and people who were abused by religious order priests or lay people working in schools or parishes should seek compensation from those organizations. Victims believe the archdiocese has responsibility for all priests and lay people working within its boundaries.

Bankruptcy Judge Susan Kelley told the archdiocese’s lawyers to explain in documents going to creditors why the plan divided victims into groups to be paid or not paid instead of turning the money over to them and letting them decide how to divide it up, which is how other church bankruptcies have been handled.

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy plan to be put to vote | FOX 11 Online | WLUK-TV

Abuse victims call Archdiocesan bankruptcy plan 'repugnant'

 

The archdiocese has argued from the beginning that it has limited resources to compensate victims. It says it has already paid more than $33 million in settlement and therapy costs over the years, including $8.25 million of a $17 million settlement in a California case brought by victims of Wisconsin priests who had been transferred there.

So far, creditors have yet to obtain a single asset of significance for the bankruptcy estate.

Kelley ruled in December 2012 that creditors could not tap the assets of the archdiocese's parishes, which are separately incorporated; or $35 million in parish deposit funds the archdiocese moved off its books in 2005 — though she said there was arguably "something fishy about the transfer."

The parties have yet to litigate issues related to Faith in Our Future, the Cousins Center or the $11 million fixed income account.

Kelley ruled in January 2013 that forcing the archdiocese to tap some portion of its cemetery funds would not violate its free exercise of religion. But U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa overturned her ruling, and Randa's decision is now on appeal before the 7th Circuit. That decision, whenever it comes down, is likely to generate an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Read more by clicking on the following:  Abuse victims call Archdiocesan bankruptcy plan 'repugnant'

Abuse victims call Archdiocesan bankruptcy plan 'repugnant'

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee's reorganization plan for exiting its bankruptcy is "morally repugnant," not in the best interest of its creditors and should be rejected by creditors and the court, a committee representing clergy sex abuse victims and other creditors said in a document filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Friday.

That objection, submitted in advance of an April 17 hearing on the plan's disclosure statement, takes issue with myriad assertions made by the archdiocese in the reorganization plan submitted to the court in February. And it telegraphs the committee's intention to continue to pursue certain assets, including $60 million the committee says was fraudulently transferred into a cemetery trust, proceeds from a $105 million capital campaign and the archdiocese's sprawling lakefront headquarters campus, known as the Cousins Center.

Click on the following for all of the article;   Abuse victims call Archdiocesan bankruptcy plan 'repugnant'

OPINION: Milwaukee Archdiocese's reorganization plan shatters hope

 

Milwaukee Archdiocese's reorganization plan shatters hope

By James E. Connell

Feb. 17, 2014

An attorney once told me that bankruptcy is about money, nothing else, just money, and I suspect the attorney is correct.

The Bible teaches that the love of money is the root of all evils (1 Tim 6:10), not some evils but all evils, and I hold to the veracity of this teaching.

And the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's reorganization plan recently filed in the bankruptcy court shows a desire that no sexual abuse claimant receive money. Yes, 128 claimants in category No. 9 (statute of limitations) will be paid. But about these claims the plan states that the archdiocese has "objected to" them, yet feels that successfully objecting to the claim would require "a full trial." It's a cut-your-losses approach. It would be cheaper to pay the claimants than to pay the trial costs.

So, to the archdiocese, no claim has merit. Is this how bankruptcies work?

Here is why this reorganization plan shatters hope.

The archdiocese went to great efforts to invite into the bankruptcy process the victims/survivors of sexual abuse "by any clergy member, teacher, deacon, employee, volunteer or other person connected with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee," as was stated on the public postings about filing a claim before the Feb. 1, 2012, "bar date." No eligibility restrictions were mentioned. And when the archdiocese recently announced its reorganization plan, the role of eligibility restrictions was not discussed.

Yet, the reorganization plan clearly shows that eligibility restrictions are central to the archdiocese arguing that no claim has merit. Some of these restrictions are because the alleged abuse was by a member of a religious order or by a lay person. Other reasons for the dismissal of claims are the statute of limitations and the lack of proof that the archdiocese committed fraud.

But neither the public postings nor the Abuse Survivor Proof of Claim form stated any claim eligibility restrictions. Rather, both documents invited participation in a way that acknowledged the financial reality of the archdiocese, while also providing a gesture of hope for justice and healing.

It could be, therefore, that survivors of sexual abuse interpreted the process as one in which the Catholic Church was wanting do what is right and good, even if not required by law. The gesture by the archdiocese could have been seen to indicate that the church was willing to remedy abuse cases even if beyond the statute of limitations (truly, it's difficult for some survivors to speak up promptly) or even if there was a prior settlement (maybe it wasn't really fair) or even if the abuse was by a religious order priest (after all, they can't serve in the archdiocese without the permission of the archbishop). Indeed, the bankruptcy claims process seemed inviting, not restrictive.

Eligibility restrictions should have been stated clearly on the public postings and on the proof of claim form, as well as in the various archdiocesan communications so that survivors to whom the restrictions applied would have realized that they would not share in the bankruptcy settlement. No false hopes would have been created. Indeed, doing so would have been a humane gesture of justice.

But, to introduce these restrictions after claims had been filed with the court was disingenuous and further generates distrust of Catholic Church leaders. For some/many/all of the claimants, participation in this bankruptcy process took great courage. To be turned away now adds to trauma, not to healing.

If the dismissal of the claims has been the intention of the archdiocese all along, then shame on all involved for having raised the hopes of many people, survivors and non-survivors alike, and then shattering those hopes.

Yet, the matter rests with the bankruptcy court. And some key elements of the case are still in an appeals court process. Who knows what will happen?

For me, I hope for justice: equity for the parties that serves the common good of society.

Rev. James E. Connell is a senior priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and an advocate for victims/survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

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Milwaukee Archdiocese's reorganization plan shatters hope