MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press
By Elizabeth Mohr
emohr@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 07/09/2015
It’s not the job of the court to encourage claims against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for clergy sexual abuse, so it won’t require the church to promote a video doing that, a federal bankruptcy judge said Thursday.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel said that he already established guidelines to notify people about the deadline to file claims with the court, but that a video produced by the committee of unsecured creditors — composed primarily of victims — goes beyond the purview of the bankruptcy court and skids into advocacy.
The committee had asked Kressel, who is overseeing the archdiocese’s bankruptcy case, to compel the archdiocese to promote the video, which features three victims who urge other victims to come forward.
The committee said the video, which it asked to be shown during Mass this weekend, was aimed at notifying more people of the impending Aug. 3 deadline to file claims against the church.
Attorneys for the archdiocese and its parishes objected to the request, saying the committee was asking the court to become an advocate and to go beyond its own notification order, which should be sufficient. Church representatives also argued that asking parishes to promote or show the video during Mass raised concerns about the court injecting its power into religious ceremonies.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.