MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
[with video]
By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune MAY 26, 2016
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis filed its financial reorganization plan in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Thursday, offering a strategy for regaining financial stability while compensating an expected 400 clergy abuse claims.
The plan calls for the creation of a $65 million trust fund for victims, which could increase in size if further insurance settlements are reached, as well as a $500,000 counseling fund for victims and new protocols to prevent future abuse.
“We filed our plan today — after 16 months — because victims/survivors cannot be compensated until a plan of reorganization is finalized and approved,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. “The longer the process lasts, more money is spent on attorneys’ fees and bankruptcy expenses, and … less money is available for them.”
Hebda acknowledged that the plan may face objections, but said that the archdiocese is committed to finding a “fair, just and timely resolution.”
Victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson blasted the plan at a news conference of his own, arguing that the archdiocese is protecting more than $1 billion in assets from liability and shielding itself from future abuse claims.
The plan contains provisions that would prevent any current official of the archdiocese, parishes or other Catholic entity from being sued for clergy abuse forever.
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