MILWAUKEE (WI)
Fox 6
[with video]
READ IT: Statement from Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
READ IT: Statement from SNAP – Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests
Federal Appeals Court Entire Decision on Archdiocese Cemetery Trust
Appeals Court Decision on Archdiocese’s Cemetery Trust
MARCH 10, 2015, BY MIKE LOWE
MILWAUKEE (WITI) — A federal appeals court has issued a ruling that puts nearly $60 million back in play. It’s cash that could be paid to victims in the Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal. It is a blow to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s bankruptcy case and it could have wide-ranging effects.
With the clergy sex abuse scandal creeping closer to church coffers, then-Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan set aside millions in a cemetery trust fund. He then fought to protect that money from abuse lawsuits in bankruptcy court.
“What this did is delay, by years, the place we already should have been at the beginning,” Peter Isley, Midwest Director of SNAP – the Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests said.
The timeline looks like this:
* 2007: Archdiocese of Milwaukee creates the trust.
* 2008: The Vatican approves the transfer of $57 million.
* 2009: Timothy Dolan becomes the Archbishop of New York. He is now Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
* 2011: Archdiocese of Milwaukee files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
* 2013: A bankruptcy judge rules against the diocese. Six months later, federal appeals Judge Rudolph Randa said the church could protect the money, but now the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed that decision — making the money fair game.
* July 2013: Archbishop Jerome Listecki defends the trust fund.
FOX6’s Mike Lowe: “You know, the accusation is that he was trying to shield assets from lawsuits.”
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