Nuns Want to Delay Sexual-abuse Lawsuits from St. Ignatius School

By Matt Volz
Missoulian
March 21, 2014

http://missoulian.com/news/local/nuns-want-to-delay-sexual-abuse-lawsuits-from-st-ignatius/article_9c393d84-b11d-11e3-be63-001a4bcf887a.html

Bishop George L. Thomas speaks at a news conference Friday Jan. 31, 2014, in Helena, Mont., about steps the Diocese of Helena has taken toward bringing resolution to claims of abuse by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

An order of nuns being sued by people who claim they were sexually abused as children at the Ursuline Academy in St. Ignatius is asking a federal judge to delay the proceedings while the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena is in bankruptcy court.

District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock of Helena halted sex-abuse lawsuits against the Ursulines and the diocese after the diocese filed for bankruptcy protection as part of a proposed $15 million settlement.

Sherlock previously combined the proceedings in the two lawsuits filed by a total of 362 alleged victims.

But the Ursulines are not participating in the settlement, and victims' attorneys want a federal bankruptcy judge to lift the stay in that state lawsuit.

The Ursulines say the case can't properly proceed without participation of the diocese.