Judge Oks Final Archdiocese of Milwaukee Chapter 11 Plan with $21m to Abuse Victims

By Rich Kirchen
Milwaukee Business Journal
November 9, 2015

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2015/11/09/judge-oks-final-archdiocese-of-milwaukeechapter-11.html

Nearly five years after the Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed for Chapter 11 reorganization, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge Monday approved a plan that distributes $21 million to 355 priest-abuse survivors and establishes a $500,000 fund to cover victims’ personal therapy sessions.

An additional 104 people who filed claims for priest abuse will receive $2,000 each out of the same $21 million settlement fund.

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki

The reorganization plan releases all Archdiocese of Milwaukee parishes, schools and institutions from future lawsuits relating to abuse claims that were filed or could have been filed in the Chapter 11 proceeding, according to a Monday press release from the Archdiocese.

The settlement money will come from various sources, including about $11 million in insurance settlements and voluntary financial arrangements with the Catholic Cemetery Perpetual Care Trust of Milwaukee.

The Cemetery Perpetual Care Trust will lend the archdiocese $3 million; provide $5 million for past cemetery care expenses that had previously not been reimbursed by the trust; and contribute $8 million to settle all pending litigation.

The plan filed calls for paying $6.5 million in accrued professional fees in the case and capping at $1.25 million additional fees for a total of $7.75 million.

Judge Susan Kelley in Milwaukee confirmed the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s reorganization plan that essentially was unchanged from a plan the Archdiocese filed Sept. 25. Kelley’s action ends the bankruptcy proceeding.

“No amount of money can ever restore what was taken from abuse survivors,” Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki said in the press release. “In some way, we hope that we are turning a corner on a terrible part of our history and embarking on a new road lined with hope, forgiveness and love. This era of our past will live on, but we also look forward to the future as a better church. And we are a better church because of the courage of those who have come forward.”

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 4, 2011, which was the one-year anniversary of Listecki’s installation as archbishop after Father Timothy Dolan was installed as the Archbishop of New York.

“We remember those who have been harmed; keeping them in our prayers and supporting them and working diligently to ensure this can never happen again,” Listecki said. “We can’t change the past, but what’s important is that together we reached an agreement to bring this proceeding to a close.”