Video Divides Twin Cities Archdiocese, Abuse Victims

By Tom Corrigan
Wall Street Journal
July 8, 2015

http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2015/07/08/video-divides-twin-cities-archdiocese-abuse-victims/

This Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minn. is shown Jan. 16, the day the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis filed for bankruptcy.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and representatives for several hundred alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse are at odds over a seven-minute video that victims want to play following Mass in all 187 of the archdiocese’s parishes.

The video, in which three alleged abuse victims appear, urges others to come forward and file claims against the archdiocese ahead of an Aug. 3 deadline. Filing formal claims is a critical step for those seeking to share a court-brokered settlement with the archdiocese and its insurance carriers.

Lawyers for alleged victims have asked Judge Robert Kressel of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Paul, Minn., to approve a motion that would send the video to all parishes and request that they play the video “in connection with each Mass service” on July 11 and July 12. The request stops short of asking the judge to explicitly order parishes to play the video.

According to victims’ lawyers, this is the first time any victims’ group has ever requested a diocese to include an outreach video during its weekend worship. The group’s filing says “a more personal, multimedia video presentation setting forth details of the relevant deadline in layman’s terms would greatly increase the likelihood of providing actual and effective notice to potential sexual abuse claimants.”

Alleged victims have also requested parishes to post the video on their individual websites. As of Wednesday afternoon, the video has already been watched more than 800 times on YouTube.

But on Tuesday, the archdiocese and a group of its parishes objected to the motion, saying that the video is unnecessary, inappropriate for children and that previous efforts to give notice to victims have been sufficient.

Judge Kressel has ordered an Aug. 3 deadline for alleged sexual-abuse victims to come forward with formal claims. The archdiocese said in court papers that it has met its legal obligation to inform the public of that deadline through the notices it has already published in 23 national, Catholic and local newspapers. It’s also made postings on its website, the bankruptcy court’s website as well as in various public buildings like state courts, sheriff’s offices, hospitals and other government buildings.

In their own response to the video, the parishes went further than the archdiocese, saying the First Amendment bars any efforts to interfere with their religious ceremonies.

Judge Kressel will take up the request at a hearing Thursday. Should the judge choose to allow the video, the archdiocese has asked for added stipulations that parishes show the video after mass and “outside of the sanctuary.”

In the video, James Keenan, Marie Mielke and Curt Raymond—members of the committee that speaks for alleged abuse victims in the bankruptcy— describe the relief they felt when they eventually came forward with their history of abuse. The video encourages others to break their silence.

“It’s a brave thing to do,” Ms. Mielke said in the video. “It’s a hard thing to do, but it is worth it.”

“It’s not an attack on the Catholic Church,” Mr. Raymond said in the video. “It’s helping the Catholic Church to improve and maybe for them to heal as well.”

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January to halt several abuse-related lawsuits from going to trial. Since then, several hundred alleged abuse victims have come forward with claims against the archdiocese, according to victims’ lawyers.

The archdiocese is also facing criminal charges, unprecedented in their scope, for its alleged role in endangering children. Nearly a dozen church officials were named but not charged.