Victims and Creditors in Archdiocesan Bankruptcy Want New Abuse Testimony Unsealed

SNAP Wisconsin
April 5, 2012

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Victims and creditors in archdiocesan bankruptcy want new abuse testimony unsealed

Evidence includes depositions of former Archbishop Weakland and Bishop Sklba on decades of cover-up

Archbishop Listecki wants evidence to remain in archdiocesan “secret archive”

Regardless of ruling, victims say Archdiocese can still turn over all records to Attorney General

WHO

Victim/survivors of clergy sexual assault, including members of SNAP, their families, and supporters will attend a court hearing in Milwaukee Federal Bankruptcy Court which could determine whether new clergy abuse testimony by top church officials, along with tens of thousands of pages of internal church files related to the cover up of decades of sex crimes against children will be made public. Victims/survivors will be available after the hearing for comment.

WHEN

Thursday April 5th, the court hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. SNAP leaders and victim/survivors will be available for comment following the conclusion of court proceedings.

WHERE

The U.S. Federal Courthouse, 517 East Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee

WHAT

In Federal Bankruptcy Court on Thursday, April 5th Judge Susan V. Kelley will hear arguments from church lawyers who, at the instruction of Archbishop Jerome Listecki, will ask the Court to keep sealed new court depositions of bishops Rembert Weakland and Richard Sklba, the two individuals most responsible for the enabling and concealing of clergy sex crimes for almost a quarter of a century. Attorneys for victim/survivors and the Bankruptcy Creditors Committee which represents 570 survivors who have filed claims will ask for the depositions to be released, along with internal church documents related to the abuse of children by clergy.

If the depositions and documents are not released, the criminal and corporate evidence they contain will remain in the archdiocesan “secret archive”, a special document vault so named and specified by church “canon” law.

Regardless of Kelley’s ruling, victims and experts say the archdiocese can still legally turn over all records to the Wisconsin State Attorney General. Last month, victims and advocates met with Ed Wall, head of the AG Criminal Division, and other top officials from the AG’s office.

More details on the release of sex abuse depositions and records can be found here.

Read SNAP Wisconsin’s letter to Archbishop Listecki on the release of court depositions.

CONTACT

Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director, 414.429.7259

John Pilmaier, SNAP Wisconsin Director, 414.336.8575

SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 23 years and have more than 10,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our national website is SNAPnetwork.org.