SANTA FE (NM)
Santa Fe New Mexican
January 27, 2023
By Philip Casaus
The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi — perhaps Santa Fe’s most identifiable landmark and the emotional and spiritual center for New Mexico’s large Roman Catholic population — is no longer on the mortgage block.
Archbishop of Santa Fe John C. Wester said in a telephone interview Friday the cash raised by parishes and other sources provided enough money to convince officials to remove the cathedral basilica from a list of properties to be mortgaged to satisfy the terms of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
Wester said the archdiocese would make an official announcement about the decision once the bankruptcy proceedings — spurred by a $121.5 million settlement with hundreds of people who made claims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests — were completed, perhaps by mid-February.
“We had everything ready to go, but then at the last minute, because we had this cash, then we didn’t have to mortgage the cathedral,” Wester said.
Wester said the mortgage on the cathedral would have been about $10 million.
In June, Wester informed parishes within the sprawling archdiocese of the intention to mortgage the cathedral basilica and asked them to help provide at least $12 million of the $75 million needed to satisfy terms of the Chapter 11 proceedings. In December, a federal bankruptcy judge approved the $121.5 million agreement that settled nearly 400 claims of abuse, many of which occurred while the plaintiffs were children.
Though he couldn’t pinpoint the date when the decision was made, Wester on Friday emphasized the ability to remove the cathedral from properties to be mortgaged came “at the very last minute.”
“People think … that we were just putting up the mortgage on the cathedral just to scare people to get the money, and that’s just not true,” he said. “We were at every intention of mortgaging the cathedral. We were meeting with people, and the deal was almost done. At the very last minute, we saw that, ‘Hey, wait a minute, you know, this is going to work out better for us.’ “
The archdiocese’s request to parishes to contribute to the settlement fund was not without controversy. Some priests complained the formula for how much each parish would need to give was unfair, yet another sore spot in a bitter controversy that had swirled in archdioceses around the world, but particularly in New Mexico.
The Santa Fe archdiocese has struggled with claims of clergy sex abuse for decades, at first culminating in the early 1990s. But the problem persisted, leading the archdiocese to declare bankruptcy as lawsuits continued to pile up.
The archdiocese asked its 93 parishes to contribute about $12 million to help close the gap between what the archdiocese’s insurers will pay and the $75 million it was responsible for covering.
Wester acknowledged the request created some bad feelings but said parishes’ willingness to help made the difference.
“The goodness of the people, the parishes, the pastors, you know, that we’re all in this together … that was very beautiful,” he said. “And you know, the fact that it saved us having to mortgage the cathedral, which although we were certain to pay it back, there’s always a risk involved in that. So it was certainly a very happy day when we realized we had the money.”
A call to the Rev. John Cannon, rector at the cathedral, was not returned Friday.
The landmark agreement with the survivors of abuse calls for financial settlements but also will include an “Abuse Document Archive,” which would be created and maintained at the University of New Mexico. The archive will hold perpetrator personnel files, victim files, investigative files and transcripts and other documents — including witness depositions and law enforcement reports.
At the time, Wester said the archdiocese also will continue its efforts against clergy abuse, which he said have been ongoing since 2002.
“But secondly, this bankruptcy has also promoted a lot of reforms, if you will, or programs and vigilance,” he said. “The whole purpose of the bankruptcy was for healing, you know, some measure of healing. We understand that money’s not going to heal people, but it does bring a sense of justice, a sense of healing. It’s a beginning, a step, an important step. But then there’s also going to be the non-monetary actions, which we see as being extremely important. And we’ve already been doing a lot of things, but we’re going to do even more.”
The cathedral was built in the 1800s under the direction of Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy. Pope Benedict XVI elevated it to basilica status in 2005. In the Catholic world, a basilica is a church building that has been accorded special privileges and special responsibilities by the pope.