Dispute stops Gallup Diocese from exiting bankruptcy

NEW MEXICO
Santa Fe New Mexican

November 15, 2016

Associated Press |

GALLUP — A new legal dispute has stalled the final resolution of a bankruptcy case prompted by a sexual abuse case involving the Diocese of Gallup, lawyers say.

The dispute involves a new lawsuit filed by attorney Robert E. Pastor against the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, a religious order that founded St. Michael Indian School in Arizona.

The suit claims a Navajo woman was sexually abused at the school by a Franciscan friar, The Gallup Independent reported.

The Gallup Diocese, the Franciscans and St. Michael Mission Church have already reached a settlement agreement with another Navajo woman related to abuse.

That settlement was part of the diocese’s bankruptcy case that was confirmed in June. As a result, the Diocese of Gallup, the Franciscans and St. Michael’s Church are protected parties and not named as defendants in Pastor’s lawsuit.

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