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	Spokane Diocese May Face Further Abuse Claims By John K. Wiley The Associated Press, carried in Seattle Post-Intelligencer March 11, 2006 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/262635_churchabuse11.html SPOKANE -- The Catholic Diocese of Spokane will know soon how much money it could be asked to pay by victims of clergy sex abuse. The deadline for victims to file claims in U.S. Bankruptcy Court here was midnight Friday, and lawyers for the diocese expected to know as soon as Monday how many people allege they were abused, and how much the diocese might be asked to pay. Bishop William Skylstad offered $45.75 million last month to settle claims by 75 people, who are expected to accept or reject the settlement within two months. But diocesan attorneys have said there could be a like number of people not covered under that settlement who demand compensation. All of those who claim to have been abused, including the original 75, had until Friday to file claims with U.S. Bankruptcy Court, to protect their right to seek compensation. The diocese filed for federal bankruptcy protection in November 2004, making it one of three Catholic dioceses in the nation seeking bankruptcy protection to handle hundreds of sex-abuse claims and lawsuits. A coalition of leaders and priests from the diocese's 82 congregations, called the Association of Parishes, has refused to endorse the settlement or calls for using parish property as collateral. If dozens of additional claims are upheld, the diocese could be liable for as much as $80 million, the association has estimated. The diocese could file insurance claims totaling about $25 million, but it is not certain whether its carriers would agree to pay that much. "There simply are too many unknown factors, which are fraught with enormous risk to the parishes," the association said recently. Meanwhile, the scope of apparent abuse continues to grow. Just last month, Monsignor John Steiner wrote alumni of the defunct Mater Cleri seminary, telling them that Skylstad had received information about possible abuse at the clergy training center for high school boys that the diocese operated in the 1960s and 1970s. "During the last week the bishop received information of an act or acts of sexual abuse, boundary violations, inappropriate touching or criminal acts on the part of a person on the Mater Cleri staff," Steiner wrote. "The bishop wants everyone to know his distress to learn such behavior took place at Mater Cleri. He is so sorry about this," Steiner wrote, urging anyone who witnessed or was victim of such abuse to contact the diocese and consider filing a claim.
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