MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
For the second time in two years, lawyers for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and sex abuse victims will sit down with a mediator next month in hopes of hammering out a settlement in the archdiocese’s nearly 4-year-old bankruptcy.
None of the parties associated with the case would estimate what it would take to resolve the underlying issues, including a pending lawsuit over $60 million in trust set aside for maintenance of the archdiocese’s cemeteries.
But two things appear certain: Abuse survivors will undoubtedly push for more than the $3 million-plus they were offered as part of the reorganization plan proposed by the archdiocese in February. And the archdiocese appears reluctant to budge, at least at the outset.
“If anything, our starting position is the (reorganization) plan,” said Jerry Topczewski, chief of staff for Archbishop Jerome Listecki. “That’s what’s on the table, and we think it’s a viable plan.”
James Stang, lead attorney for the creditors committee, suggested there would have to be some give for the mediation to succeed.
“They want the bankruptcy done with,” Stang said of the archdiocese. “It’s been hard on the community, it’s been hard on the survivors…and they want to move on.
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