NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WVUE [New Orleans LA]
November 21, 2025
By Thanh Truong
Coadjutor Archbishop James Checchio walked into federal court Friday to testify in the multimillion-dollar bankruptcy case involving the Archdiocese of New Orleans and hundreds of people who filed sex abuse claims against it.
Among the claimants are people like Johnny Krummel, who says he’s still struggling because of the abuse he suffered in the early 1980s as a young boy at the Madonna Manor Orphanage.
“It’s been messed up my whole life. You know, I’m trying to get better, but it’s messed up my whole life, my brothers too, because they were in Hope Haven and Madonna Manor too,” said Johnny Krummel outside the federal courthouse in New Orleans.
Patricia Moody is another claimant. Moody says a priest began abusing her when she was 8 years old.
“Everybody needs validation. They need to be treated with kindness and compassion, empathy,” Patricia Moody said at the courthouse.
Moody says she received no compassion or empathy in 2019 when she reported the abuse to the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Since then, she has worked with the archdiocese as it crafted new protocols to improve child safety. These include guidelines on when and where adults are prohibited from being alone with a child. The new policies also aim to enhance the process of reporting sex abuse. Moving forward, every abuse claim in the church will have a paper trail, with documentation at each step.
Moody says the archdiocese never documented her claim, and she hopes the reforms can restore some confidence in the church.
“You know I’m sure so many people have strayed from the church because of what has happened, their experiences. However, I do think this is an opportunity for the church to move in the direction that they need to,” Moody said.
Patricia Moody also testified on Friday. During the bankruptcy proceedings, she has served as chair of the “official committee of survivors.” Her testimony focused on the need for the proposed reforms, which, under the bankruptcy case, are known as the “nonmonetary provisions” of the archdiocese’s $230 million settlement plan.
But for those provisions to take effect, the settlement plan must be approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Grabill, who wants assurances the reforms will be enforced. When an attorney for the archdiocese asked Archbishop Checchio on the stand if he supports the content of the nonmonetary provisions, Checchio replied, “With all my heart and all the energy I have.”
The proposed reforms in the nonmonetary provisions serve another purpose. Judge Grabill says they’ll help ensure the archdiocese doesn’t land back in bankruptcy court because of sex abuse lawsuits.
The archdiocese sought bankruptcy protection as hundreds of sex abuse claims mounted after a list of credibly accused clergy was published in 2018. Church officials believe their reforms will set what they have called the “gold standard for child protection.”
Claimants like Johnny Krummel remain skeptical and are waiting for their faith in the church to be restored.
“I don’t believe it, but we’ll see in the future. We’ll see in the future,” said Johnny Krummel.
Testimony in the bankruptcy trial resumes next week and is expected to wrap up Dec. 2.