WISCONSIN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
An independent Catholic newspaper has compared church bankruptcies in Milwaukee WI and Helena MT. Predictably and rightfully, Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki is exposed as particularly callous and foolishly litigious.
Both dioceses “faced two dozen lawsuits” and “established $21 million funds to compensate victims” though Milwaukee is much larger,” the National Catholic Reporter found, but
–Helena settled in 13 months” while “Milwaukee took nearly five years,”
–“Helena spent about $2.5 million on lawyers” while “Milwaukee’s legal fees” were “$20 million”
–“Helena did not challenge the validity of any of the 362 claims” while “Milwaukee challenged each of the more than 575 claims,”
–Helena’s bishop said “a small number of claims appeared bogus” while Milwaukee’s archbishop challenged, to the end, the legal standing of each of the 575 claims” (while stubbornly claiming “bankruptcy was the only way to treat all equitably.”
A lawyer who has represented (victims) in 11 church bankruptcies, “including those of Milwaukee and Helena,” said “the lack of consultation on the part of the Milwaukee Archdiocese was almost unheard of in bankruptcy cases.”
Not surprisingly, Helena’s bishop “received praise from lawyers on the other side and from the judge who handled the case” and says “the relatively swift resolution has resulted in high priest morale and increased support by people in the community,” according to the NCR.
No one in the Milwaukee Catholic hierarchy can make that claim here.
We hope Wisconsin citizens and Catholics will read this report and learn more about how church officials elsewhere treat clergy sex abuse survivors more compassionately and less combatively than they do here in Milwaukee.
To Wisconsin victims, there’s little news here. To Wisconsin citizens and Catholics, however, there’s eye-opening information, if they’ll take the time to read this troubling comparison.
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