Bankrupt Davenport Diocese Claims Assets Totaling $4.5 Million The Items, Including Vehicles and Jewelry, Likely Will Be Sold to Pay Those Who Say They Were Abused by Priests, by Erin Jordan, Des Moines Register, October 14, 2006

Bankrupt Davenport Diocese Claims Assets Totaling $4.5 Million
The Items, Including Vehicles and Jewelry, Likely Will Be Sold to Pay Those Who Say They Were Abused by Priests

By Erin Jordan
Des Moines Register
October 14, 2006

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061014/NEWS02/610140331/1002/NEWS01

The Davenport Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, which filed for bankruptcy this week, claims $4.5 million in assets, including a pastoral center, 26-acre farm, duplex, house, six vehicles and jewelry.

Those assets, listed in an 88-page petition filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, likely will be sold to pay people who say they were sexually abused by priests.

Related Content

Document: Diocese Petition for Chapter 11 [a 1.12 megabyte file]

[Note from BishopAccountability.org: We also present the Petition in smaller files that are easier to download.

• Voluntary Petition
• Schedule A. Real Property
• Schedule B. Personal Property
• Schedule C [not attached]
• Schedule D. Creditors Holding Secured Claims
• Schedule E. Creditors Holding Unsecured Priority Claims
• Schedule F. Creditors Holding Unsecured Nonpriority Claims
• Schedule G. Executory Contracts and Unexpired Leases
• Schedule H. Codebtors
• Declaration Concerning Debtor's Schedules
• Statement of Financial Affairs
• Disclosure of Compensation of Attorney for Debtor(s)
• List of Equity Security Holders
• Verification of Master Address List
• Corporate Ownership Statement ]

Diocesan possessions listed in the petition range from the sacred (a half-dozen crucifixes, 18-inch ivory statue of Mary and Child and a wooden altar) to the mundane (two push mowers, a set of plaid hand towels and a 10-cup Mr. Coffee). Also among items inventoried were: Two holy water stands, four cases of altar wine, 35 cartons of letterhead and envelopes, 44 computers, 60 phones and more than 3,000 books.

Diocesan jewelry held in a safe-deposit box includes an Episcopal ring from the Vatican II Council, a silver pectoral cross with a diamond, and two watches.

"It was never necessary for them to sell all their artifacts," said Craig Levien, attorney for 15 men who sued the diocese, alleging they were sexually abused years ago by the Rev. Lawrence Soens, retired bishop of the Sioux City Diocese, when Soens was principal at Regina High School in Iowa City.

Levien said the diocese could have reached a settlement with alleged victims that would not have required bankruptcy.

The diocese has the opportunity to "buy back" some of the possessions, said Richard Davidson, the diocese's bankruptcy attorney.

"If there's an ivory cross we want to keep, we will have it appraised and the diocese will have the option to pay for it over a period of time," he said.

The Davenport Diocese, which has 105,000 members in southeast Iowa, is the fourth diocese in the nation to go to bankruptcy court to protect its assets from lawsuits and claims by people alleging clergy sex abuse. The decision to file for bankruptcy comes a month after the diocese was ordered to pay $1.5 million to an abuse victim.

That victim, Michl Udhe, is listed as the creditor with the largest claim to the diocese's assets. Other creditors include the other men who have sued the diocese. The names of victims who want to protect their identities will be filed under seal, the petition states.

The diocese likely will file a plan within the month on how it intends to pay creditors, Davidson said. The diocese will also begin negotiating with legal counsel appointed by the creditors, he said.