Abuse Victims Ask Vatican to Reconsider Archdiocese Cemetery Funds

By Annysa Johnson
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
November 26, 2013

http://www.jsonline.com/news/religion/milwaukee-priest-abuse-victims-ask-vatican-to-rescind-cemetery-letter-b99150936z1-233491791.html

[letter to the Vatican]

In a move intended to bolster a potential settlement between the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and sex abuse victims, victim advocates are asking the Vatican to rescind a decision that allowed then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan to shield $57 million in cemetery funds from legal liability in 2007.

The Survivors and Clergy Leadership Alliance, a newly formalized organization of priests and survivors of clergy sexual abuse, announced Tuesday that it was sending the request to the Vatican.

The action comes as the archdiocese is working on a reorganization plan to exit its bankruptcy that will be funded in part by an undisclosed settlement it reached with one of its insurers this month.

The withdrawal of the Vatican's nihil obstat, or no objection, to Dolan's plan to move the $57 million into a newly created trust could allow creditors' attorneys to pursue those funds for a potential settlement.

In 2007, Dolan, now cardinal of New York, sought Vatican approval to move the funds to protect them "from any legal claim or liability," according to a document released in July as part of the bankruptcy.

"It's apparent from the tone of Dolan's letter that his intent in moving the money was in anticipation of the bankruptcy," said Monica Barrett, an alliance member who says she was raped by the late Father William Effinger at his Lake Geneva parish when she was 8.

"Ordering that money back as an asset of the bankruptcy affects not only the financial outcome for survivors, but the perception of the Catholic Church as a whole," Barrett said.

Jerry Topczewski, chief of staff for Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki, said voiding the Vatican approval for the transfer would have no effect on the availability of those funds because the funds were always segregated for the perpetual care of cemeteries.

Timothy Nixon, the attorney representing the trust and Listecki as its sole trustee, said that while victims have a right to seek Vatican action, "this is a matter that should be decided by the courts, based on the law."

U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa ruled in July that forcing the archdiocese to tap the cemetery trust to fund a sex abuse settlement would violate its free exercise of religion under the First Amendment and a 1993 law aimed at protecting religious freedom. That question is now before the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The archdiocese is nearing the three-year mark on its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, filed in January 2011 to deal with a looming financial crisis brought on by its handling of sexual abuse cases over the decades.

Of at least 10 Catholic bankruptcies filed to date, Milwaukee's has become one of the most costly and contentious as the archdiocese and creditors wrangle over which victims should be compensated and what assets should be used to pay for any settlement.

A significant development appeared to emerge this month when a group of insurers agreed to buy back policies they sold to the archdiocese as a way to minimize their liability, and negotiations with a second insurer are ongoing.

The archdiocese and attorneys for the creditors committee declined to divulge the dollar figure, but the alliance letter to the Vatican suggests victims do not expect it to be substantial.

"It does not bode well for survivors," said Peter Isely of the alliance and the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, who noted that settlements elsewhere ranged from $220,000 to $800,000 per victim.

"If it turns out they've spent more on lawyers than on payments to survivors, that will speak volumes."