Archbishop Listecki talks about struggles of operating as bankruptcy case continues

By Alison Bauter
Milwaukee Business Journal
September 3, 2014

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/blog/2014/09/archbishop-listecki-talks-about-struggles-of.html

Archbishop Jerome Listecki addressed the Milwaukee Press Club Wednesday at the group's Newsmaker Luncheon.

It’s like trying to steer a ship while your ankles are tied and you’ve got one hand behind your back.

That simile was Archbishop Jerome Listecki's depiction of the financial straits an ongoing bankruptcy case creates for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Without delving into specifics, Listecki told a Milwaukee Press Club panel Wednesday that member contributions to individual parishes remain strong overall, and that last year's annual fundraising appeal exceeded goals. But for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, "Yes, it does impact upon us. There is no doubt about it," Listecki said.

"There’s vision that you’d like to establish, but you have to basically hold off," he said. "You basically don’t know what an end-point of the bankruptcy will be. And because that’s realistic ... you have to understand that you can’t make commitments to things that you won’t be able to fulfill."

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2011 in response to claims stemming from the priest sex-abuse scandal. In February, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee submitted a plan to emerge from bankruptcy, which would reserve about $4 million for victims of sexual abuse.

In the original Chapter 11 filing, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee listed assets of $98.4 million, most of which were either restricted or belonged to other related organizations. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee identified $4.6 million in assets that could be applied to a settlement. The church will have at least $7 million in debt at the end of the case, Listecki said in a letter this February.

Among the organization's assets is 415,000 square feet of office space in St. Francis, the Archbishop Cousins Center. The bankruptcy case initially presented the possibility to relocate or seek buyers for the space, something Listecki said Wednesday is now a "non-option."

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee pays about $700,000 a year to maintain the Cousins Center and pay its utility bills, Listecki said. It also subleases parts of the Cousins Center to five other tenants, including the Milwaukee Bucks — a lease that would need to be re-negotiated should they sell, he said.

“Just from a business sense, basically, it makes sense to stay there," Listecki said.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee's central offices have been in the Cousins Center since the early 1980s and occupy about 55,000 square feet of the property at 3501 S. Lake Drive. The center is owned by De Sales Prepatory Seminary Inc., an Archdiocese affiliate.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee will soon re-enter mediation.