Gallup Diocese consultant quits

By Olivier Uyttebrouck
Albuquerque Journal
February 15, 2016

http://www.abqjournal.com/724430/news/gallup-diocese-consultant-quits.html

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A financial consultant who had complained about a lack of transparency by a church-owned insurance group resigned last week from his role in the Diocese of Gallup’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

Settlement talks in the 26-month-old 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.

Earlier this month, Murphy told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma of Albuquerque that he would view Catholic Mutual’s financial statement, then give the judge a “thumbs up or thumbs down” decision whether to oversee a future-claims trust fund to distribute money paid by Catholic Mutual.

Murphy gave Thuma a “thumbs down” last week and asked to be relieved as the future-claims representative.

Attorneys for the diocese asked Thuma to replace Murphy with Michael R. Hogan, a retired federal judge who has served as a future-claims representative in the bankruptcy of the Diocese of Spokane, Wash.

Thuma said he likely would approve Hogan’s appointment if no objections are filed.

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.