Sex Abuse Claims against Archdiocese, Clergy Now under Review

By Cody Hooks
Taos News
July 19, 2019

https://www.taosnews.com/stories/sex-abuse-claims-against-archdiocese-clergy-now-under-review,58343

Late-afternoon shadows are cast over the adobe walls of the Immaculate Heart of Mary church, the center of the former seminary where dozens of high school and college-aged students trained to become priests in the 1960s and 70s. Naranjo's is one of at least two lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe alleging sexual abuse at the hands of a priest, widespread knowledge of the situation among church officials and negligence for facilitating it.

When the June 17 deadline to file sexual abuse claims against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe passed, 340 people had submitted paperwork to be part of the bankruptcy settlement.

Now, the bankruptcy process is moving along and the claims are being reviewed.

The participants in the bankruptcy proceedings are “close” to identifying a mediator for settlement discussions, according to Jim Stang, a lawyer representing the creditors’ committee, a group of eight survivors or the parents of survivors.

A corporate arm of the archdiocese, which manages some of its endowment, should also be responding to requests for disclosure of documents, he said.

After decades of sexual abuse lawsuits and millions of dollars in payouts to survivors of alleged clergy abuse, the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in December in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for New Mexico. The archdiocese has about $49 million in assets, according to the court documents.