Consultant to review diocese finance records

By Olivier Uyttebrouck
Albuquerque Journal
February 8, 2016

http://www.abqjournal.com/720084/news/nm-news/consultant-to-review-diocese-finance-records.html

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A consultant last week agreed to review limited financial records provided by an insurer for the Diocese of Gallup and make a “thumbs-up or thumbs-down” decision whether to oversee a trust fund to handle future claims that may be filed by alleged victims of clerical sexual abuse against the diocese.

Settlement talks in the 26-month-old Chapter 11 bankruptcy case stalled last month after Catholic Mutual Relief Society of America, a church-owned nonprofit, declined to turn over extensive financial records demanded by the consultant, Michael P. Murphy, the managing director of Michigan-based AlixPartners LLP.

Murphy was hired last year to represent the interests of sexual abuse victims who may file claims in the future.

Murphy on Wednesday told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma of Albuquerque that he would view Catholic Mutual’s financial statement early this week, then decide whether to oversee a future-claims trust fund to distribute money paid by Catholic Mutual. Attorneys say the future-claims trust fund is a vital part of a settlement in the case.

An attorney for Catholic Mutual last month threatened to withdraw the nonprofit’s offer to provide money for the future-claims fund because it was unwilling to provide a variety of financial records sought by Murphy.

AlixPartners contends that the records are needed to show that Catholic Mutual has the resources to pay for future claims.

The Diocese of Gallup in 2013 became the ninth Roman Catholic diocese in the U.S. to file for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy in response to lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of children by clergy.

Mediation talks in December led to a tentative agreement on funding a settlement, but some issues remain unresolved, including setting up a future-claims fund.