MONTANA
Los Angeles Times
Associated Press
January 31, 2014
HELENA, Mont. — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena filed for bankruptcy protection Friday as part of a proposed $15-million settlement for hundreds of victims who say clergy members sexually abused them over decades while the church covered it up.
The Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan comes after confidential mediation sessions with the plaintiffs’ attorneys and insurers, resulting in a proposed deal to resolve the abuse claims, diocese officials said.
Bishop George Leo Thomas expressed his “profound sorrow” at a news conference and apologized to the victims.
“I know the pain is real, the pain is in the present tense, and in the name of the church, I want to say I’m sorry and we’re sorry as a church,” Thomas said.
The $15 million “will at least be a beginning point for people who are seeking resolution in their lives and in their hearts,” he added. …
Molly Howard, an attorney for the plaintiffs in one of the lawsuits, said she believed the bankruptcy process would resolve the case more quickly than years of litigation and trials with uncertain outcomes.
“Given the age and ill health of many of the victims, this is in their best interest,” Howard said. …
David Clohessy, the executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, criticized the diocese for seeking bankruptcy protection, saying it would allow church officials to keep records closed that might have come out in a trial.
He also said the settlement fell short because it did not publicly name the church officials who shielded and protected predator clergy members.
“Those individuals have to be exposed and punished,” Clohessy said.
Thomas said in response that church officials would comb their records to see if there were “intentional failures of leadership.” But the records from the time of the abuse are incomplete, he said.
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