BishopAccountability.org
	Settlement a Key Step in Del. Diocese Bankruptcy NECN February 4, 2011 http://www.necn.com/02/03/11/Victim-Money-concerns-led-to-diocese-set/landing_nation.html?&blockID=3&apID=3011f08c400e4b41912a7358ef4c14a8 Attorneys for the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and alleged victims of priest sexual abuse told a Delaware bankruptcy judge on Thursday they have reached a tentative settlement that could clear the way for the diocese to emerge from Chapter 11 protection. The diocese, which filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2009 on the eve of a series of trials in child sex abuse lawsuits, agreed Wednesday to a $77 million settlement with nearly 150 alleged abuse victims. In return, the diocese, its parishes and affiliated entities would be released from all legal claims related to the church sex abuse scandal. In a key victory for abuse victims, church officials also agreed to turn over internal church documents detailing how the diocese handled pedophile priests, who in many instances were allowed to continue to prey on children for years after their abuse became known. "This is a bittersweet victory for me," said Othell Heaney, whose 19-year-old son Kevin, shot himself in 1987 after allegedly enduring years of childhood sexual abuse by the Rev. Edward Dudzinski, whom the diocese has acknowledged as a pedophile. "It does not take away the pain and suffering our son went through." Robert Brady, an attorney for the diocese, told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi it will take a couple of weeks to revise its proposed reorganization plan to reflect the settlement, which resulted from mediation that began in June. "This has been a very long and difficult road for everyone involved," Brady said, adding that the settlement allows the diocese to fairly compensate abuse victims while preserving the ministries of the church. John Vai, an abuse victim who won a punitive damage award of $30 million against former priest Francis DeLuca in December, said he believes the verdict in his case convinced diocese officials they had to settle with abuse victims. "They will part with some of their gold, but I believe their heart is not in it," Vai said, adding that he believes diocese officials care most about "their wallet." Matthias Conaty, who along with Vai serves as co-chair of the diocese's official committee of unsecured creditors, said Bishop Francis Malooly tried to use bankruptcy to limit the ability of victims to pursue their lawsuits. "I knew it was a matter of time that we were going to win because we had the side of right and good," said Conaty, whose direct negotiations with Malooly on Wednesday led to announcement of the settlement. Diocese spokesman Robert Krebs said Malooly would not speak with reporters on Thursday, even though he had nothing on his schedule after celebrating an early morning Mass in Wilmington. Malooly instead released a statement saying the diocese's goals have been "to fairly compensate all survivors of clergy sexual abuse, to honor our obligations to our creditors and lay employees to the best of our ability and to continue the charitable, educational and spiritual works of the Catholic community in Delaware and Maryland's Eastern Shore." Conaty said the abuse victims were pushing for "transparency and prevention" in their settlement talks, and that the diocese's agreement to turn over church documents, rather than controlling access to them on a limited basis, was a huge victory. "Now, we have control of the black-and-white, gory details that I think are going to shock the conscience of Delawareans, Catholic and non-Catholic, and people all over the world will not be able to minimize or deny what happened," Conaty said. The agreement specifies that no alleged victim of abuse will identified by name in the documents unless he or she gives consent, Conaty said. It also spells out the types of documents covered under the agreement, including priest personnel records and the diaries of all of the diocese's deceased bishops. An arbitrator who will be selected by mutual agreement of the opposing parties will settle disputes over the release of any documents. Tom Crumplar, an attorney for abuse victims, said it could be several months before all the documents are available. "We may have to get some Latin scholars," he said. " ... When they really had things they didn't want to talk about, they wrote in Latin." An arbitrator also will be responsible for deciding how the settlement money will be distributed among abuse victims, which include victims of both diocesan priests and religious order priests. Attorneys for the victims said any settlements or jury awards in lawsuits still pending against the religious orders will be added to the diocese settlement fund for distribution to all victims. The lawsuits that will be dismissed upon Sontchi's approval of the settlement were filed under a 2007 state law that provided victims of child sexual abuse a two-year "window" in which to file lawsuits that otherwise would have been barred by the passage of time. The state Supreme Court heard arguments in December in an appeal by the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, a Catholic religious order, challenging the constitutionality of the law. But attorneys told Sontchi on Thursday that the settlement between the diocese and abuse victims will be binding regardless of how the Supreme Court rules. The Oblates have been named in 34 child sex abuse lawsuits, with the next trial scheduled to start Feb. 23. The Rev. Kevin Nadolski, a spokesman for the Oblates, said the order is willing to negotiate with alleged abuse victims, and that he hopes the diocese settlement will help lead to a resolution in the Oblate cases "so that the healing that we've been committed to may be realized." But Tom Neuberger, an attorney representing scores of abuse victims, said the religious orders have been even more confrontational than the diocese in dealing with abuse victims. "When you deal with the religious orders it's like dealing with the mob," said Neuberger.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.