NEW MEXICO
ABQ Journal

By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writer

Attorneys who faced off for the first time in a bankruptcy case filed by the Diocese of Gallup warned an Albuquerque judge to expect a difficult and emotional case involving the sexual abuse of children by priests.

The Diocese of Gallup last week became the nation’s ninth Roman Catholic diocese to file for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy in response to a growing number of lawsuits filed by alleged victims of clerical sex abuse.

“Money is an issue,” said James Stang, a Los Angeles attorney who specializes in representing claimants in bankruptcies filed by Roman Catholic dioceses. “But it’s also about fairness, justice, healing – things you don’t ordinarily have to contend with” in a bankruptcy case, he said.

Victims of sexual abuse by priests also expect “transparency and sunshine” from the Roman Catholic Church, Stang told U.S. Bankruptcy…