ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Albuquerque Journal
March 10, 2019
By Colleen Heild
Priest sexual abuse survivors have until June 17 to file a proof of claim in the ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed by the Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe.
A Friday order by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma approving the deadline for claims tasks the archdiocese with getting the word out to clergy abuse victims, primarily by publishing notices in more than 22 newspapers or other publications in New Mexico and elsewhere.
“The order is the first step in what we hope will be a global resolution to provide fair compensation to all survivors of sex abuse by clergy,” said Archbishop John C. Wester of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in a news release.
Wester said the archdiocese, the largest of New Mexico’s three Catholic dioceses, is working “collaboratively” with a creditor’s committee of sex abuse survivors and “our insurers to maximize the outreach to those who might have claims.”
Claims will be sealed and won’t be available to the public unless the claimant indicates otherwise.
“After the claims filing deadline of June 17, 2019,” Wester stated, “we are hopeful that mediation among the survivors’ committee, insurers, archdiocese and other parties will result in a consensual plan providing an appropriate resolution for each and every claimant.”
The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy reorganization in December, citing the financial burden of continuing litigation brought by victims, most of whom allege they were sexually abused by priests decades ago.
“The establishment of a deadline to file claims is critical in this case because it will allow the Debtor and other necessary parties to understand the universe of claims asserted against the Debtor,” stated attorneys for the archdiocese in a Feb. 1 filing.
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