MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Feb. 15, 2014
When Archbishop Jerome Listecki announced that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee was filing for bankruptcy three years ago, he said it was the only way to ensure the local church could continue its mission and operations, and treat childhood victims of sexual abuse — many of whom had begun to sue — “equitably.”
The archdiocese last week filed its reorganization plan, essentially its proposed road map for exiting bankruptcy. Except for an additional $2.4 million in debt, the plan would allow the 10-county archdiocese — home to some 600,000 Roman Catholics — to emerge for the most part unscathed, from an operational standpoint. Although the archdiocese will have spent an estimated $18 million in legal fees before the bankruptcy is over, the plan calls for it to sell no property; pay all of its vendors (although some would get less than they sought);and continue to fund all of its pension and health care plans.
Whether it treats abuse survivors equitably is another matter. Although all victims would have access to church-funded therapy, whole classes of survivors would receive no financial settlement. Those sexually assaulted as a child by, say, a Catholic schoolteacher or parish choir director would receive nothing. Victims of religious order priests and nun would receive nothing.
In all, 128 of the 575 men and women who have filed sex abuse claims in the bankruptcy would receive a financial settlement — about $27,000 each on average, unless additional funds are secured by suing insurance companies. But even victims of the same priest could be treated differently under criteria proposed by the archdiocese, survivors and their lawyers said Friday.
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