NEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, NM, July 11, 2015

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent
religion@gallupindependent.com

ALBUQUERQUE — A month after the Diocese of Gallup entered court ordered mediation, the diocese’s bankruptcy case seems to have derailed.

Any hopes that the Gallup Diocese might be closer to a resolution of its Chapter 11 case were dashed this week with a flurry of motions filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court by attorneys for the diocese and attorneys representing clergy sex abuse claimants.

On Monday, attorneys for the diocese filed notice of an expedited status hearing slated for July 17 and requested the bankruptcy court order the parties back into mediation with a new mediator. Two days later, attorneys representing clergy sex abuse claimants filed several motions asking the court to lift the bankruptcy case’s automatic stay that prohibits civil lawsuits against the diocese from moving…