MILWAUKEE (WI)
Wall Street Journal
By TOM CORRIGAN
Aug. 4, 2015
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee said Tuesday it would pay $21 million to several hundred alleged victims of sex abuse by members of the clergy under a settlement that aims to end the longest-running church bankruptcy in U.S. history.
The settlement, which is subject to final approval by Judge Susan Kelley of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Milwaukee, resolves a dispute over whether a $55 million cemetery maintenance trust can be tapped to compensate the alleged victims, the most significant sticking point in the 4½-year-old chapter 11 case.
“Today, we turn the page on a terrible part of our history and we embark on a new road lined with hope, forgiveness and love,” Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki said Tuesday.
The terms of the settlement divide about 570 alleged victims into several groups, some of whom will receive nothing.
About 330 alleged victims will share the bulk of the $21 million settlement, according to James Stang, a Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones bankruptcy lawyer who is representing the committee of alleged victims in the archdiocese bankruptcy.
The settlement also provides $250,000 for alleged victims who come forward in the future, as well as an additional $500,000 to provide therapy for alleged victims.
The archdiocese sought chapter 11 protection in 2011 in the face of mounting claims of alleged abuse. The archdiocese, in February 2014, offered $4 million to pay about 125 of the alleged victims who have sought compensation, as well as another $500,000 to provide lifetime therapy. The alleged victims rejected the offer as being too low.
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