Winona Diocese Not Planning for Bankruptcy

By Jerome Christenson
Winona Daily News
January 16, 2015

http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/winona-diocese-not-planning-for-bankruptcy/article_e1f5c137-dd06-52ab-94b7-50f5976ceb13.html

The Diocese of Winona office in Winona.

The announcement Friday that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has filed for bankruptcy does not affect the Diocese of Winona, which last year raised the possibility of doing the same but said it would depend on whether it’s presented with new legal claims.

“The action of the archdiocese has no affect on our plans here,” said Winona Diocese spokesman Joel Hennessy on Friday. “We have no plan to file (bankruptcy) at this time.”

The Winona Diocese was named, along with the archdiocese, in a suit brought by a Twin Cities man who claimed to have been sexually abused by former priest Thomas Adamson. Settlement of that suit was announced last October, though the amount of the financial settlement was not disclosed.

After the announcement of that settlement, the Winona Diocese stated it had no plans to file bankruptcy. Hennessy said back in October that the diocese can’t know how many people may sue in the remaining 21 months a new state law allows.

“There is no new litigation that would cause us to change our plans,” Hennessy said Friday. “We’re not in a bankruptcy situation.”