Milwaukee archdiocese to pay $21M to victims of clergy abuse in settlement

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Fox News

Published August 05, 2015
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. – The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee said Tuesday that it will pay $21 million to more than 300 victims of clergy abuse in a settlement that would end a four-year bankruptcy proceeding.

The proposed deal, which will be part of a reorganization plan submitted to a bankruptcy court later this month, was to be reviewed by a judge overseeing the case at a Nov. 9 hearing. Archbishop Jerome Listecki called the settlement a “new Pentecost,” but an attorney for the victims, along with advocates for those abused by clergy, decried the settlement as a paltry amount.

Milwaukee is one of 12 Roman Catholic dioceses nationwide to file for bankruptcy in the past decade over a flood of abuse claims. The settlement announced Tuesday is among the smallest per-victim payments yet in these cases. The actual amount each victim receives will be determined by an appointee of the bankruptcy court.

The settlement was reached after three days of negotiations in July between the archdiocese, the creditors’ committee and attorneys for abuse survivors, the archdiocese said. …

Peter Isely, Midwest director of SNAP, said when attorneys’ fees are subtracted, the average settlement amount per victim will be $44,000. He said the average settlement amount in all other U.S. church bankruptcy cases, minus attorneys’ fees, is $300,000.

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