St. Paul archdiocese hopes for quick payments to sex abuse victims

MINNESOTA
Headlines from the Catholic World

St. Paul, Minn., May 31, 2016 / 04:13 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is eager to see a quick end to its reorganization plan so that victims and survivors of clerical sex abuse can see more compensation sooner, according to its bishop.

The plan of reorganization is part of the bankruptcy process, for which the archdiocese filed in January 2015.

“Victims/survivors cannot be compensated until a Plan of Reorganization is finalized and approved. The longer the process lasts, more money is spent on attorneys’ fees and bankruptcy expenses; and, in turn, less money is available for victims/survivors,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda wrote in a May 26 letter to the faithful of the archdiocese.

“In other dioceses, that approval process has taken years. For example, in Milwaukee, the process took more than five years and only $21 million was available to compensate claimants. We are submitting our Plan now in the hope of compensating victims/survivors and promoting healing sooner rather than later.”

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