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	Delaware Church, Abuse Victims Agree to Trial Halt (Update2) By Steven Church Bloomberg November 6, 2009 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aWhyGw_boRvs&pos=9 Sexual-molestation victims agreed with Roman Catholic officials in Delaware to put 78 lawsuits against churches and priests on hold while the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington is in bankruptcy. In exchange, church officials will release information on several priests accused of sexually abusing children as well as financial and insurance records. Lawyers for the victims and the diocese said today five trials involving individual churches will go forward under the deal. The two sides will try to settle the lawsuits as part of the diocese's bankruptcy case. "We think it will move the case forward," victim attorney James Stang said, referring to the bankruptcy. The diocese filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 18, planning to settle the lawsuits filed by current and former parishioners who said they were sexually molested by priests. The lawsuits against the diocese, led by Bishop W. Francis Malooly, were halted automatically by the bankruptcy. Since individual Delaware churches weren't included in the diocese's Chapter 11 filing, they needed to either cut a deal with the victims, or persuade U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi to halt the cases against them. The agreement between the diocese and the victims doesn't cover lawsuits against Catholic religious orders that run some of the largest private schools in Delaware. There are about 50 such lawsuits still pending in state courts, diocese attorney Robert Brady said in an interview. 130 Lawsuits Filed Altogether, more than 130 lawsuits have been filed against the diocese or Catholic religious orders in Delaware. Those lawsuits involve about 25 priests accused of sexually assaulting more than 140 children sometime during the past five decades. The Wilmington diocese's bankruptcy followed cases in Fairbanks, Alaska; Portland, Oregon; Spokane, Washington; Davenport, Iowa; and Tucson, Arizona. A Jesuit religious order in Oregon also filed for bankruptcy court protection. In 2007, San Diego's Catholic diocese agreed to pay $198 million to settle 144 abuse claims. The Catholic diocese in Fairbanks offered victims and other creditors about $11 million as part of its bankruptcy, according to the diocese's Web site. In the bankruptcy cases that ended, victims were paid, on average, from $300,000 to as much as $1.3 million each, Stang said in an interview. Stang represents creditors and victims in Delaware and at least two other Catholic bankruptcies. The case is In Re Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, 09BK13560, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, (Wilmington). To contact the reporters on this story: Steven Church in Wilmington, Delaware at schurch3@bloomberg.net
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