MILWAUKEE (WI)
National Catholic Reporter
Marie Rohde | Feb. 19, 2014
MILWAUKEE Lawyers representing people with claims against the Milwaukee archdiocese complained to a judge Tuesday that they were not consulted before the archdiocese filed its bankruptcy reorganization plan last week.
The claimants’ lawyers also asked bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley not to rule on the plan until an appeals court rules on the status of a hotly contested cemetery fund, which the archdiocese says is off limits but the claimants want made available in the bankruptcy settlement.
Kenneth Brown, one of the lawyers representing those who filed claims against the archdiocese, argued that the “disclosure statement” — the list of assets and liabilities that is the basis for the reorganization plan proposed by the archdiocese — could be radically different if a federal appellate court overturns a decision related to the multimillion-dollar fund meant to provide the perpetual care of archdiocesan cemeteries.
Allowing the archdiocese to eliminate the cemetery fund before the higher court rules would be the equivalent of “allowing Bishop Listecki to settle litigation against Bishop Listecki,” Brown said. Jerome Listecki is archbishop of Milwaukee.
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