MILWAUKEE (WI)
National Catholic Reporter
Marie Rohde | Feb. 13, 2014
MILWAUKEE When Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki announced a bankruptcy reorganization plan Monday morning, he optimistically said “we are turning a corner” on the darkest chapter in the archdiocese’s history.
“It’s time for us to get back to what the church is supposed to be doing,” Listecki said in a letter posted on the archdiocesan website. “It’s time for the archdiocese to return its focus to its ministry.”
But a bevy of appeals of decisions on key issues in the bankruptcy case as well as other federal and state lawsuits indicate the plan will not be the last word, even though it would leave the Milwaukee archdiocese with a $7 million debt.
Survivors of clergy sex abuse, the catalyst for the bankruptcy, said they were stung by what they considered the inadequacy of the $4 million victim compensation fund and dismissive of the $500,000 that Listecki said will provide a lifetime of therapy for survivors.
“It’s like being raped all over again because we’ve had to fight for decades,” said Monica Barrett, who was assaulted by a priest when she was 7 years old.
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