Editorial: Gallup Diocese at a crossroads

Gallup Independent
July 31, 2015

http://gallupindependent.com/

As they face another round of court ordered mediation, Bishop James S. Wall and his bankruptcy attorneys are at a crossroads. They need to decide if they are really serious about resolving the Diocese of Gallup’s bankruptcy case. If they keep doing what they’ve been doing, they are going to keep getting the same dismal results.

The bankruptcy case will continue to drag on and on — into the case’s third year. And, of course, the diocese’s legal expenses will continue to climb. As of March 31, the fees and expenses for its small army of bankruptcy attorneys, accountants and other professionals had exceeded $2.25 million, and a new round of quarterly professional fees should be submitted to the court soon.

If Bishop Wall and his attorneys are really serious about resolving this bankruptcy, they need to start doing things differently. They need to start thinking differently.

For one, they need to put the interests of the clergy sex abuse survivors at the top of their priority list. Remember the clergy sex abuse survivors? They are the people whose lives have been shattered by the sexual abuse they endured as children attending Catholic parishes and schools in the Gallup Diocese. They are the people whose interests should be at the very heart of this case.

Secondly, the diocese and its insurance providers need to stop bickering and begin working together to provide a legitimate settlement for abuse survivors. The bickering was at its height in April as attorneys for the diocese and the insurance companies sniped at each other in court motions and hearings. One of the insurance companies is Catholic Mutual, a self-insurance fund of the Catholic Church in North America. Bishop Wall and the Catholic bishops who run Catholic Mutual do not impress anyone with their Christian character as they argue over how few pennies abuse survivors deserve based on insurance policies.

Thirdly, Bishop Wall needs to demonstrate a real willingness to sacrifice some of the diocese’s own assets to fund the plan of reorganization and provide a settlement for abuse survivors. While Wall has agreed to auction off some excess real property, the sale of those properties may not even cover the case’s legal fees and expenses. For example, the six Gallup parcels to be auctioned appear to be mere crumbs off the bishop’s table. Three of the parcels are landlocked and located on steep, rocky hillsides. There’s no sacrifice — or honor — in offering virtually worthless parcels for sale.

There are a number of other properties in the Diocese of Gallup that could be added to the upcoming auction. Some are also excess real property not being utilized for a religious purpose. In addition, Bishop Wall could also make some sacrifices and offer other property that has substantial value. For example, why does the diocese need to hold onto its chancery property when it has empty office space in the Catholic Charities complex and the now defunct Gallup Catholic High School? Why does Bishop Wall need his own private residence and chapel when other bishops are happy to live in church rectories among their own priests? Clergy abuse survivors deserve more than crumbs off the bishop’s table.

If Bishop Wall and his attorneys don’t make serious efforts and serious sacrifices at the next mediation table, the crossroads they are currently facing will quickly turn into a quagmire. The legal fees and expenses will continue to rise, and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma’s patience is surely going to wear thin.

Then perhaps Bishop Wall and his attorneys will find themselves sitting at another table — the defendant’s table in Arizona’s Coconino County Superior Court. That’s the table Bishop Wall was trying to avoid nearly two years ago when he filed for bankruptcy.

We hope Bishop Wall doesn’t need to sit in that Flagstaff courtroom to finally get serious about offering a fair settlement to the survivors of clergy sex abuse.

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