BALTIMORE (MD)
Washington Post
December 18, 2023
By Michelle Boorstein
Survivors have until May 31 to file a claim in the archdiocese’s bankruptcy case. After that, civil sexual abuse claims against it will be permanently barred.
BALTIMORE — A federal bankruptcy judge started the clock on Monday for sexual abuse survivors seeking damages from the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, setting a date of May 31, 2024, for claims to be filed.
The deadline is a compromise between the Feb. 26 date the archdiocese requested and the June 1 date proposed by the survivors, who are represented by a “creditors committee” — a group of seven survivors selected to represent what are expected to be hundreds of others with abuse claims.
The archdiocese includes about 480,000 Catholics in Baltimore and Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard and Washington counties.
The archdiocese is now mandated by the court to widely advertise the deadline, after which civil sexual abuse claims against it will be permanently barred.
That will include posting links about the deadline on parish and Catholic school websites and in prominent locations in their buildings, putting notices in church bulletins, and having priests speak about the deadline during Mass at least twice, according to a letter sent to archdiocesan staff members Friday.
The setting of a months-long filing deadline — called a “bar date” in bankruptcy cases — is a dramatic twist for survivors.
In April, the Maryland legislature passed a landmark law called the Child Victims Act, which survivors and their advocates had been working toward for years. It repealed the statute of limitations and permits survivors of child abuse to file civil lawsuits at any time. The law took effect on Oct. 1, but just a couple of days before, the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy. A bankruptcy filing halts most civil claims while the organization reorganizes its finances and debts in court.
Also Monday, the court approved the wording on the form that survivors will use to file claims. The archdiocese had sought more information and detail, while the creditors committee argued for less.Share this articleShare
Among the survivors on the creditors committee is Jonathan Salamone of Baltimore. After the hearing, Salamone said he was “happy; I think we’re headed in the right direction.” He said the most important thing to him is that the archdiocese and the survivors so far are working together well.
His attorney, Steve Boyd, said that while the victims got the deadline they asked for, they will still have a much shorter window to seek civil damages than they would have if the archdiocese had not filed for bankruptcy.
“This is a Catholic game plan that has been played out all over the country,” Boyd said, of the now-common use of bankruptcy filings in response to attempts to end statutes of limitations for sexual abuse by clergy.
As the bankruptcy case moves forward in Baltimore, the church is seeking to overturn the Child Victims Actaltogether in the adjacent Archdiocese of Washington.
In a motion filed in November, the archdiocese — which includes D.C. suburbs in Maryland — argued that the new law violates the Maryland Constitution. It says the law strips the archdiocese of immunity that the General Assembly granted it six years ago. The immunity — called a statute of repose and considered by some lawyers to be irrevocable — was granted in a compromise that extended the statute of limitations for child victims to sue up until they reach age 38.
The Washington Archdiocese — which includes Montgomery, Prince George’s, Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s counties in Maryland —is facing two sexual abuse cases, one in Montgomery County and another filed as a class-action lawsuit in Prince George’s County. In both, the archdiocese disputed the underlying allegations.
Victim advocates say survivors of childhood sexual abuse often struggle to come to terms with what happened well into adulthood. Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown (D) told the General Assembly this year that he believes the Child Victims Act would pass constitutional muster and has vowed to defend it.
Asked what would happen if the law was struck down, Christian Kendzierski, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said Monday in an emailed statement: “Determining constitutionality will likely to be a lengthy process, and the Archdiocese believes that pursuing Chapter 11 reorganization now provides the best process to allow for the compensation of all victim-survivors and continued ministry.”