CANADA
Canada NewsWire
CORNER BROOK, NL, July 5 /CNW/ - The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and
Labrador today approved the proposal that the Roman Catholic Episcopal
Corporation of St. George's presented to its creditors on May 25, 2005. The
proposal, which was overwhelmingly approved by a vote of creditors, required
court approval pursuant to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. It is now up to
the Corporation to fulfill its financial commitment under the terms of the
proposal.
On March 8, 2005 the Corporation filed a Notice of Intention that
effected a "stay of proceedings" in civil actions against the Corporation
including those launched since 1991 on behalf of victims of sexual abuse. The
stay of proceedings gave the Corporation time to evaluate its assets and to
prepare the proposal to creditors. Today's decision by the court authorizes
the Corporation to discharge its financial commitment to its creditors, which
is in excess of $13 million, within the 30-month payment schedule as spelled
out in the proposal.
"It's up to us to keep our commitment," said the Most Rev. Douglas
Crosby, Bishop of St. George's Diocese. "The Court's decision affirms our
belief that the proposal was fair and just and we will discharge our financial
and legal obligations. But more importantly, today marks the beginning of the
end of a long and painful episode for the victims of sexual abuse and for the
priests and people of St. George's. Now we can focus on healing one another."