MILWAUKEE (WI)
Reuters
MILWAUKEE | BY BRENDAN O’BRIEN
A federal judge on Monday approved a bankruptcy plan for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee that includes a $21 million settlement for 330 victims of sexual abuse by clergy.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Susan Kelley approved the church’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan more than four years after the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection.
The U.S. Catholic Church has been hit with a series of sexual abuse accusations aimed mainly at clergy who targeted youths over the past two decades. The scandals have cost the U.S. church about $3 billion in settlements and driven prominent dioceses like Milwaukee’s into bankruptcy.
The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2011, citing the financial drain of settling sexual-abuse claims and acknowledging missteps by the church in dealing with pedophile priests.
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