Deadline to File Catholic Sex Abuse Claims Set for June 17

By Cody Hooks
Taos News
March 22, 2019

https://taosnews.com/stories/deadline-to-file-catholic-sex-abuse-claims-set-for-june-17,55883

Archbishop of Santa Fe John C. Wester announced in November the archdiocese was filing for bankruptcy. The archdiocese has been at the center of sexual abuse lawsuits for the past three decades.

The last day to file a claim against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe related to sexual abuse by its clergy will be June 17.

The announcment appeared in the Legal notices of The Taos News March 21 and was posted to the archdiocese's website.

The June 17 "bar date" is part of the Archdiocese bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for New Mexico.

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in December. It has about $49 million in assets, including about $31.6 million in property, according to the court documents. Under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, the debtor – in this case, the church – comes up with a plan to pay its debts while also continuing to operate.

More than 350 abuse survivors have been documented in the archdiocese over the last 25 years, including at least 18 who filed lawsuits claiming to have been abused by Michael O'Brien, a former priest in Ranchos de Taos and Questa who died in 1993. At least 16 priests have been named as child abusers by the archdiocese, in lawsuits or both.