PORTLAND (OR)
Catholic Sentinel
11/25/2005 Ed Langlois
Sex-abuse claimants will get paid much sooner, and possibly more, if they accept a reorganization plan set out by the Archdiocese of Portland last week.
Waiting for resolution in a dispute over parish and school ownership will delay payment of claims perhaps for years. And if the archdiocese prevails, the compensation will be only about half as much as under last week’s proposal.
The likely pool of funds to pay disputed compensatory claims would shrink from $40.5 million to $21.5 million, says a disclosure statement filed by the archdiocese.
In the statement, the archdiocese said engaging the property dispute is in no one’s best interest, since the case could take years to go through appeals.
The archdiocese’s plan “provides the best opportunity for the claimants to receive compensation for their claims without delay,” said archdiocesan attorney Tom Stilley, adding that claims that cannot be settled in the process can still be filed in District Court.