August 29, 2005

Judge: Diocese's assets to pay sex-abuse victims

BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

By Michael Levenson, Globe Correspondent | August 29, 2005

A decision by a federal bankruptcy judge in Spokane, Wash., who ruled that the assets of the Catholic diocese could be liquidated to pay victims of sexual abuse by priests, could have far-reaching implications for dioceses across the country, including in Boston, leaders of two lay reform groups said yesterday.

Peter Borre, cochairman of the Council of Parishes, a group that is assisting parishioners who oppose the closing of their parishes, said he believes the ruling might encourage more victims of clergy sexual abuse to come forward and file suit against church officials, two years after about 550 parishioners in Boston settled their claims with the archdiocese.

''We are going to see a significant surge in claims because, to put it a bit crassly, sexual-abuse victims and their attorneys will now see much larger sums of money available for settlement," he said. ''Everything within the diocese is now potentially on the table if it comes to Chapter 11 proceedings."

Terrence C. Donilon, spokesman for the Boston Archdiocese, said he did not want to comment directly on the ruling because church lawyers have not had a chance to review its details. But he said he wanted to point out differences between the Boston Archdiocese and the Diocese of Spokane, which filed for bankruptcy in December, claiming assets of $11.1 million and liabilities of $81.3 million. Most of those liabilities were sexual-abuse claims.

''We're not in bankruptcy, we're in a process of reconfiguration, so we're in a significantly different environment from Spokane," Donilon said.

Posted by kshaw at August 29, 2005 08:09 AM