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	Milwaukee Archdiocese to File for Bankruptcy By John Rondy Reuters January 4, 2011 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7035EH20110104 Milwaukee's Roman Catholic archdiocese filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday, citing the financial drain from pending lawsuits and past settlements with victims of sexual abuse by priests. Archbishop Jerome Listecki said the move to seek Chapter 11 reorganization in federal bankruptcy court grew out of a November court decision that insurance companies were not bound to contribute to financial settlements with victims. Mediation efforts in many of the suits have failed, he added, though settlements have been reached with more than 190 individuals at a cost of more than $29 million over two decades. "For the Catholic in the pew, I think this will come as a little bit of distress. At the same time, hopefully they will hear the message of a possibility for a new beginning," Listecki said at a news conference. The bankruptcy gave victims who have yet to step forward roughly two years to do so, he said. The aim is to pay pending claims by victims of abuse and "to continue to meet the needs of parishes, parishioners, and others who rely upon the Church for assistance," he said. But a group representing abuse victims said the bankruptcy would allow church leaders to avoid answering questions under oath about their "complicity" in the priestly abuse, and from taking alternative steps such as borrowing to pay victims. "It's always distressing when supposed 'shepherds' act like callous CEOs. This is about protecting church secrets, not church assets," David Clohessy of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said in a statement. Jeff Anderson, a U.S. lawyer who represents 23 cases against the Milwaukee archdiocese, said the bankruptcy could delay -- but not prevent -- the church from revealing the names of all "priest-predators" and of the church officials who Anderson said covered up the crimes. "We have been most open," Listecki said in response. Several U.S. Catholic dioceses have filed for bankruptcy since the Portland, Oregon, diocese took the drastic step in 2004. Dioceses that have entered bankruptcy because of sexual abuse claims include San Diego, California; Spokane, Washington; Wilmington, Delaware; and Davenport, Iowa. "Since 2002, we have sold property, liquidated savings and investments, eliminated ministries and services, cut archdiocesan staff by nearly 40 percent, and put all available real estate on the market in order to free up resources," the Milwaukee church said on its web site. The priest abuse scandal that first struck many U.S. dioceses a decade ago has cost the U.S. church in more ways than one. "The scandal had a double negative impact -- it increased the outlay for compensation to deal with the cases, and it also reduced contributions" from parishioners appalled by the disclosures, said Tom Smith of the Center for the Study of Politics and Society at the University of Chicago. In March 2010, Milwaukee's diocese dealt with explosive charges that a now-dead priest molested some 200 boys at a school for the deaf over more than two decades.
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