Deadline Set for Sex Abuse Claims against Diocese

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Gallup Independent
April 15, 2014

http://gallupindependent.com/

Individuals who were sexually abused by Catholic clergy or others associated with the Diocese of Gallup have 120 days to file abuse claims against the diocese.

In an order signed Friday, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge David T. Thuma set the claims bar date as Aug. 11. All claim forms must be either mailed or hand delivered by 5 p.m. Aug. 11 to the Clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Albuquerque. The claims will be kept by court personnel in a confidential and sealed file.

Claims filed after the bar date deadline will be disallowed.

The Diocese of Gallup filed for Chapter 11 reorganization Nov. 12 because of mounting clergy sex abuse lawsuits and out-of-court claims. When Bishop James S. Wall announced his decision to file for bankruptcy, the Gallup Diocese was facing the deposition of current and former diocesan officials in connection with 13 clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed in Arizona’s Coconino County Superior Court. The first of those lawsuits was scheduled to go to trial in February. With the filing of the Chapter 11 petition, court proceedings for those depositions and lawsuits were stayed.

The Diocese of Gallup includes parishes in six counties in western New Mexico and three counties in northern Arizona. Prior to the formation of the Diocese of Phoenix in December 1969, the Gallup Diocese included many more Arizona communities such as Sedona, Flagstaff, Kingman, Prescott and Lake Havasu City.

To date, 24 clergymen associated with the Diocese of Gallup have been publicly accused of the sexual abuse of minors in police reports, court documents, news stories or through the admission of church authorities.

Public notice campaign

According to statements submitted to bankruptcy court by diocesan officials, 121 individuals have come forward in the past with allegations of sexual abuse by clergy or others associated with the Diocese of Gallup. Susan G. Boswell, the lead bankruptcy attorney for the diocese, has said that more abuse claims are expected to be filed before the bar date.

On Wednesday, during a final hearing about the bar date, Boswell told Thuma that the diocese was planning to spend approximately $35,000-$40,000 on a “comprehensive campaign,” which would cast “a wide net” to notify the public about the sex abuse claims deadline.

“We want to be able to reach out as much as possible to anybody who might have a claim against these debtors and seek to inform them of manner in which they can file a claim,” Boswell said.

The diocese’s public notice campaign, which was approved by Thuma, will include media news releases, paid advertisements with newspapers and radio stations, announcements submitted to Catholic dioceses and parishes across the Southwest, and notices posted at Native American cultural centers, Navajo chapter houses, post offices and other government facilities.

Attorney James I. Stang, legal counsel for the Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which represents the interests of clergy abuse survivors with claims against the diocese, said his committee approved the diocese’s public notice campaign.

“The debtor really is ultimately motivated to give adequate notice of the bar date because it wants an effective discharge,” Stang told Thuma.

Court approval of the Diocese of Gallup’s Chapter 11 plan of reorganization could be jeopardized if the diocese cannot document it provided the public with adequate notice of the clergy sex abuse claim process and bar date.

Claims assistance

Survivors of clergy sex abuse can download the Confidential Proof of Claim form, as well as the notice and instructions for filing the form, from the Diocese of Gallup’s website. The original form, plus one copy, must be mailed or hand delivered to the Clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Albuquerque. The court will not accept claims that are faxed or emailed.

One potentially confusing feature of the claim form is a section that asks claimants to check if they are submitting a claim against the “Roman Catholic Church Of The Diocese Of Gallup, a New Mexico corporation sole” or against the “Bishop Of The Roman Catholic Church Of the Diocese Of Gallup, an Arizona corporation sole.” Claimants are advised that failure to check one of the two boxes, or checking both boxes “will not alone be grounds for objection to or disallowance” of their claim, but further clarification is not provided on the claim form.

Abuse survivors can also obtain information about the claims process by calling a toll free number that will be maintained by Stang’s law firm. That toll free number will include assistance for Spanish and Navajo speakers. Assistance for other Native languages, such as Apache, Hopi, Keresan and Zuni is not available, according to court documents submitted by the diocese.

An abuse survivor who has already filed a claim against the Gallup Diocese and has been paid in full should not file a claim, according to court documents.

In addition, under federal law, anyone submitting a fraudulent claim could be subject to a fine of $500,000 and/or imprisonment for up to five years.

Online Claim Forms: www.dioceseofgallup.org

Toll free Information Line: 1-888-570-6269

Contact: religion@gallupindependent.com