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Syracuse Diocese, Facing Child Victims Act Sex Abuse Lawsuits, Files for Bankruptcy

By Anthony Borrelli
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
June 19, 2020

https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/2020/06/19/catholic-church-sex-abuse-syracuse-diocese-files-bankruptcy/3221915001/

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse filed for bankruptcy protection Friday, as it faces more than 100 lawsuits under New York's Child Victims Act for past sex abuse by priests and clergy members mount in the courts.

The Diocese, which filed its petition for Chapter 11 reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New York's Northern District, estimated it had total assets of about $37.7 million and reasonably ascertainable liabilities of about about $37.8 million.

Also, it noted potential liabilities that could be in excess of tens of millions of dollars relating to contingent and unliquidated claims arising under the New York Child Victims Act.

The Diocese said Friday's bankruptcy filing was "in order to respond to claims stemming from the Child Victims Act in an equitable and comprehensive manner, and to reorganize the financial affairs of the Diocese in order to permit it to continue to fulfill its ministries to the Catholic faithful of the Diocese."

The parishes within the Diocese, the Foundation including the HOPE Appeal, Catholic Charities, Catholic Schools and other entities associated with the Diocese are separate legal entities and are not part of the Chapter 11 filing.

[READ MORE IN COURT DOCUMENTS BELOW THIS ARTICLE]

Bishop Douglas J. Lucia, in a statement, said that without reorganization, the Diocese and claimants will face a slow, unpredictable and costly court process. The added challenge this situation presents, he said, is that one jury award could so diminish the Diocese's assets that it would have little or nothing with which to resolve the other claims or carry on its ministries.

"It is my hope that during this process of reorganization and following its completion, we will continue to pray for the healing of those who had been harmed during this very dark chapter of the Church," Lucia said in a statement Friday.

As part of a Diocese Reorganization Plan, the Diocese intends to create a Victims Fund with a pool of funds from the Diocese and insurance carriers. The Diocese is working with insurance carriers to determine the extent of coverage.

The Chapter 11 case was commenced to maximize the Diocese's assets, including any available insurance assets, in order to provide the "greatest recovery for the greatest number of abuse victims," said the Rev. Monsignor Timothy Elmer, Vicar General and Corporate Vice President of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse in Friday's court documents.

"The Diocese does not seek to shirk or avoid any responsibility for any past misconduct by clergy or for any acts of omissions of the Diocese relating to such conduct," Elmer said in the documents.

More than two dozen Catholic Dioceses and Archdioceses across the U.S. have previously filed bankruptcy — the Rochester Diocese filed for bankruptcy in September 2019 and was the first of New York's eight Dioceses to do so. The Buffalo Diocese followed with a bankruptcy filing in February 2020.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse includes an estimated 217,000 Catholics residing in seven counties of Central and South Central New York State. Within seven counties — Broome, Chenango, Cortland, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga and Oswego — the Diocese has 119 parishes.

Child Victims Act cases in NY

The bankruptcy filing Friday came days after a wave of nearly 40 new lawsuits under the Child Victims Act alleging past abuses by priests.

An Albany-county based law firm handling a majority of lawsuits filed Wednesday said two priests who served in Broome County were named in four of those new complaints:

Father Edward C. Madore was accused in Wednesday's lawsuits of sexually abusing two children at St. Catherine Church in Binghamton during the late 1970s. He has other lawsuits pending against him and is included on the Syracuse Diocese list of clergy with credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor.

James Francis Purtell is accused of sexually abusing two children at St. John the Evangelist and Seton Catholic Central in Binghamton. One victim was allegedly abused from 1979 to 1984, and another from approximately 1977 to 1982. Purtell taught at both schools, and both children were students at St. John the Evangelist and, subsequently, Seton Catholic Central.

The Child Victims Act, which took effect in 2019, lifted statute of limitations even for allegations that were decades old, for a filing period of one year, but the deadline to bring a lawsuit has been extended to 2021.

Victims can seek legal action under the act, regardless of whether the allegations were previously reported or criminal charges were ever filed.

Jeff Anderson, an Albany County-based attorney whose law firm filed 32 Child Victims Act lawsuits Wednesday against the Syracuse Diocese, said the bankruptcy filing isn't the end for victims of abuse by clergy.

"Survivors will still be able to come forward, expose the truth, help protect children, and seek healing," Anderson said Friday.

 

 

 

 

 




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