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	Diocese: $40M Is Most We Can Afford It's Everything 'Not Committed to a Parish' By Kevin Eigelbach Kentucky Post [Covington KY] June 23, 2005 BACK IN COURT JULY 5 Stan Chesley and Carrie Huff will return to Boone Circuit Court on July 5, seeking preliminary approval for the settlement from Special Judge John Potter. A hearing in the case, originally scheduled for today, has been postponed. The attorneys didn't get the quick approval they had hoped for when they announced the record-setting settlement. At a hearing on June 9, Potter said he had concerns about the availability of the money, as well as the notice given to potential plaintiffs. The $40 million the Diocese of Covington will put up as its share of a $120 million settlement with victims of priestly sexual abuse is the maximum it could afford without getting into dire financial straits, its lawyer said Wednesday. "We were willing to put up virtually everything the diocese has that's not committed to a parish," said Chicago-based attorney Carrie Huff. Huff and Stan Chesley - who filed the lawsuit on behalf of an unknown number of victims - said they came up with that figure after meeting with accountants for the diocese and examining financial and property records. The settlement calls for the diocese to pay up to $40 million via cash on hand, securities and the sale of some of its property, including the Marydale retreat center in Erlanger. The remainder of the money will come from insurance payments - which may eventually cover the diocese's share as well. Chesley said neither he nor the victims wanted to seize any of the diocesan schools or churches, nor the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, which the diocese has poured millions of dollars into renovating and beautifying. The cathedral has little commercial value, except possibly as a restaurant, and there are already enough of those, said Chesley. The two attorneys - once adversaries but now united in their desire to get a judge's approval for the settlement - meet jointly Wednesday with The Post's editorial board. It was a meeting of the minds once thought highly unlikely. "I never thought the day would come when I would agree with Stan Chesley on anything," Huff said. But after months of direct negotiations, the diocese and Chesley agreed on a settlement that could pay as much as $120 million to an undetermined but comprehensive number of victims. Chesley called the settlement an incredible chance for the diocese to close out a sad chapter in its history. He said he met with 50 members of the class Saturday and all favored the proposal. "The victims want this settlement," he said. Huff said finalizing the settlement is crucial to enabling victims to get on with their lives. "You have to understand, a lot of these people are in a state of constant agitation," Huff said. Media coverage fuels that agitation, as when Father Earl Bierman, who molested dozens of boys in the diocese, died June 13 in prison, she said. "We get calls, off the charts, from people who are just disintegrating," Huff said. The diocese has acknowledged that allegations have been made against 35 diocesan priests, almost one-tenth of the priests who have ever served in it in the last half century. About three-quarters of the 205 incidents of abuse happened between 1960 and 1980. To its credit, the diocese chose not to contest the claims on the basis of the statute of limitations for the crimes having run out, Chesley said. The settlement's other $80 million would come primarily from the company that has insured the diocese since 1968, Catholic Mutual, a nonprofit run by the nation's Catholic bishops. But Catholic Mutual's disagreement with the settlement remains a stumbling block. In May, the diocese sued the nonprofit over the issue. Until the class action, Catholic Mutual had paid every claim the diocese made for sexual abuse cases, Huff said. Chesley said he believes Catholic Mutual is also liable for most of the $40 million the diocese has agreed to contribute, and plans to pursue making the company pay. "I have every intention of getting the $40 million back from the insurance company, for the diocese, so they can continue their work and not be in the litigation business," he said. If that happens quickly enough, the diocese might not have to sell Marydale. "It's in nobody's interest to have a fire sale on the property, because then we're not going to get maximum value for it," Huff said. Nor has he demanded a fire sale, Chesley said. "So long as I know the church will guarantee the payment of the $40 million either in cash or property, I'm satisfied," he said. The insurance company has a much higher potential liability than $120 million, Chesley said, including punitive damages. Catholic Mutual and the American Insurance Co. of Novato, Calif., which insured the diocese for a short period prior to 1968, "should be kissing us for the cap," Huff said. So far, the diocese has paid out an average of about $186,000 to settle the 56 claims it has already settled outside the class-action suit, Huff said. At that rate, it would take 645 victims to reach the $120 million figure. The settlement calls for the diocese to pay claims according to a matrix worked out in settling previous cases. It provides for the most severely mistreated victims to get the most money. No more than 30 percent of the payout would go to attorney's fees. Five percent of the total payout would go to pay counseling for the victims. The settlement is a lot of money to pay, but it would be money well spent, Huff said. "It's one thing to say, 'Preserve the assets of the diocese for its good works,'" she said. "But this is one of its good works."