ST. PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS (MN)
The Catholic Spirit (Newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis)
September 5, 2017
The judge overseeing the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ bankruptcy is now considering what he will do with the two competing plans of reorganization before the court.
Counsel for multiple parties with interests in the matter, including representatives of the archdiocese, parishes, insurers and clergy sexual abuse claimants, presented objections to the plans before Judge Robert Kressel in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Minneapolis Aug. 29. The objections were previously outlined to the court in written briefs during July and August.
The archdiocese’s plan would provide $156 million to claimants after court approval and would protect parishes and several Catholic high schools from further lawsuits from past claims of sexual abuse. Proceeds from the sale of archdiocesan properties on Cathedral Hill in St. Paul, insurance settlements and parish contributions fund the archdiocesan proposed plan.
The competing plan was submitted by the Unsecured Creditors Committee, which represents creditors, including sexual abuse claimants, in the bankruptcy proceedings. The UCC plan rejects most of the insurers’ settlements in the archdiocesan plan, calls for an $80 million contribution from the archdiocese secured by the Cathedral of St. Paul and several Catholic high schools — and retains the ability of creditors to sue parishes, schools and other Catholic entities. That plan would require years of further litigation during which victims would not receive compensation.
This spring, creditors, including abuse claimants, took a nonbinding vote on the plans to indicate their preference to the court. The majority of abuse claimants voted for the UCC plan. The decision of which plan to implement ultimately rests with the judge.
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