MONTANA
Helena Independent Record
Helena Bishop George Leo Thomas held prayer services in seven Montana communities last year in the wake of a nearly $21 million settlement to resolve claims by about 380 people who accused the Diocese of Helena of sexual abuse.
Thomas spoke at churches in Helena, Bozeman, Butte, Cut Bank, Columbia Falls, St. Ignatius and Missoula, according to a list of the outreach efforts.
The services held in these seven communities were part of numerous nonmonetary provisions in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganization plan for the diocese that was confirmed by the Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, bankruptcy court in March 2015.
Resolution of the bankruptcy and reorganization plan came after lawsuits had been filed in state court by two groups in 2011, according to The Associated Press.
Though the outreach was required, Thomas said “with or without that agreement, this would have been necessitated by pastoral care. I think that the church has the obligation for outreach and conciliation, but also to pray for those who were victimized or aggrieved. And so I would have done that with or without any agreement with the plaintiffs.”
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