MONTANA
National Catholic Reporter
Dan Morris-Young | Mar. 20, 2015
In what U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Terry L. Myers called a “singular achievement,” a bankruptcy and reorganization plan for the Helena, Mont., diocese reached via mediation and negotiation rather than protracted litigation has been approved.
It will provide $21 million to compensate more than 360 sexual abuse claimants. Distributions averaging about $40,000 per claimant are scheduled to begin in April, attorneys for the diocese said.
During the three and a half years since the original lawsuit was filed, fewer than three hours were actually spent in court, according to lawyers involved in the case.
Approved by Myers on March 4 at proceedings in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, the settlement officially went into effect Thursday following a mandatory two-week waiting period for potential appeals.
The plan, which also includes the restructuring of about $17 million in internal diocesan debt, received “nearly unanimous approval in voting by the sexual abuse victims and other creditors, and the confirmation order by Judge Myers resolves all outstanding sexual abuse claims against the Diocese of Helena,” according to a diocesan press release.
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