BishopAccountability.org
	Attorneys Debate Suits against Delaware Parishes By Randall Chase KDKA November 2, 2009 http://kdka.com/wireapnewsfnpa/Judge.in.diocese.2.1285780.html WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) ? Attorneys for the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington asked a bankruptcy judge on Monday to stop alleged victims of priest sex abuse from proceeding with trials against its parishes. Judge Christopher Sontchi heard several hours of argument and testimony Monday before adjourning the hearing until Friday. As a bankruptcy debtor, the diocese is subject to an automatic halt on litigation against it. But it also wants a restraining order for lawsuits against the parishes, arguing that the diocese is the real defendant and would have to divert resources and key personnel to the trials. The diocese also argues that any insurance payments on behalf of co-insured parishes will reduce the amount of insurance available to its bankruptcy estate. "The diocese is responsible for the men, the priests," said the Rev. Monsignor Thomas Cini, vicar general of administration and the diocese's point man in the bankruptcy case. Cini, through depositions already given or through court testimony, also could be a central figure in the civil trials. The proposed trials involve eight alleged victims of Francis DeLuca, who served as a priest for 35 years but was defrocked last summer after being jailed in 2007 in New York for repeatedly molesting his grandnephew. Shortly after DeLuca's arrest, the diocese released the names of 20 priests, including DeLuca, against whom it had substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse. Attorneys for the alleged victims argue that the diocese has not met the criteria for a restraining order, and that the trials should proceed with the parishes and DeLuca as defendants. Thomas Neuberger, a lawyer for alleged abuse victims, noted that the diocese has not argued that the parishes were unprepared for the trials, or that they would be unduly prejudiced if they were allowed to proceed. But Timothy Houseal, an attorney representing the diocese in the civil lawsuits, said allowing the trials to go forward would jeopardize the diocese's goal in bankruptcy to "compensate as many victims as possible to the greatest extent possible." "Going after the parishes is really an end run, in my view, to go after the diocese," said Houseal, who was called as a witness at Monday's hearing. The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month after settlement negotiations failed with about a dozen alleged victims, including the eight DeLuca plaintiffs whose cases were scheduled for trial. More than 100 other alleged victims are pursuing compensation through dispute resolution instead of trials, creating a potential liability that the diocese said it could not afford, particularly given the demands by the plaintiffs in cases set for trial. The filing came on the eve of what would have been the first trial under a Delaware law that created a two-year "lookback" window allowing claims of abuse to be brought even if the statute of limitations had expired. More than 175 lawsuits were filed before the window closed this summer. On Monday, Sontchi denied a request from attorneys for alleged abuse victims to order the diocese's new bishop to appear at a meeting of creditors in the bankruptcy case. Attorneys for the alleged victims wanted the opportunity to question the Most Rev. W. Francis Malooly, who took over the diocese about a year ago, at a creditors meeting tentatively scheduled for Dec. 1. "The goals of the debtor for transparency, for healing, for atoning, if you will, for what happened to these people requires that this person show up," said James Stang, an attorney for abuse victims. But Robert Brady, a bankruptcy attorney for the diocese, said Cini, who has served in the diocese since 1968 and has been vicar of administration since 1977, was the most logical representative. "He, by far, has the most institutional knowledge of this diocese," said Brady, adding that the motion to force Malooly to appear seemed to be more designed to get publicity than to get useful information. In other developments, attorneys said the diocese has reached a settlement with James Sheehan, an alleged abuse victim who is gravely ill and whose attorneys had asked Sontchi to allow his lawsuit against the diocese to proceed in state court. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but the diocese still needs Sontchi's permission to make a payment to Sheehan. In the meantime, his lawsuit against the religious order that employed his alleged abuser is set to begin Nov. 16. On a related issue, Sontchi agreed to allow depositions to proceed in a handful of other cases involving alleged abuse victims who are extremely ill or dying. Brady said medical records of some of the people suggest exceptions may not need to be made for them. Sontchi said he would leave it to the diocese and attorneys for alleged victims to agree on a process to take depositions where appropriate, and that he would step in if necessary.
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