NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque Journal
By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: Saturday, August 15, 2015
A second round of court-ordered mediation talks this week in the Diocese of Gallup Chapter 11 bankruptcy case ended in deadlock, again over the issue of money, attorneys said in a hearing Friday in Albuquerque.
With the second anniversary of the bankruptcy case looming in September, an attorney warned that “the limited resources of the diocese will quickly be consumed” if the case isn’t resolved soon.
“If I could manufacture money, I could get this case resolved tomorrow,” Susan Boswell, a Tucson attorney representing the diocese, told U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge David Thuma.
The Diocese of Gallup became the ninth Roman Catholic diocese to file for bankruptcy in 2013 in response to a growing number of lawsuits by people alleging that as children they had been sexually abused by clergy. Legal and professional costs in the case have mounted to more than $2.6 million through June 30.
The purpose of the bankruptcy case will have failed “if we end up with no money for the abuse survivors,” Thuma warned attorneys.
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