MILWAUKEE (WI)
GlobalPost
By Brendan O’Brien
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) – The Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee said on Wednesday it has proposed a restructuring plan for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court that would establish a sex abuse victim compensation fund worth $4 million, an amount advocates called woefully low.
The $4 million would be made available to abuse victims partly through a loan the archdiocese plans to secure using property as collateral and may be used to sue the church’s insurance companies, the archdiocese said in a statement.
The Roman Catholic Church in the United States has been hit with a series of abuse accusations and scandals during the past two decades. The scandals have cost the U.S. church about $3 billion in settlements and driven prominent dioceses like Milwaukee’s into bankruptcy.
The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2011, citing the financial drain of settling sexual-abuse claims and acknowledging missteps by the church in dealing with pedophile priests. It expects to file a restructuring plan with the court on Wednesday that includes the fund.
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