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	Parishes Oppose Settlement By Nicholas K. Geranios The Associated Press, carried in The News Tribune March 16, 2006 http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/religion/story/5592024p-5027684c.html SPOKANE – The parishes of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane do not want to help pay for a $45.7 million settlement offer made by Bishop William Skylstad to 75 victims of sexual abuse by priests, an attorney said Wednesday. The 82 parishes were expected to shoulder a hefty portion of the settlement costs, but instead will ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia Williams to reject the settlement offer, said Bob Hailey, an attorney and spokesman for the parishes. "This settlement doesn't provide a mechanism for parishes to protect their churches and schools," Hailey said. Skylstad, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops, was not available for comment. Shaun Cross, an attorney for the diocese, said the association of parishes and the diocese were still in talks and it was too soon to say that the parishes will not participate in the settlement. "We are spending a lot of time with the AOP to give the group more information," Cross said. The settlement offer will be filed with Williams on Friday, Cross said. It must be approved by the judge and the victims. The association of parishes would have 23 days after the filing to file objections. The settlement offer has been controversial from the moment it was proposed Feb. 1. Concerns were raised about where the money would come from in a poor diocese, and how the diocese would deal with the dozens of additional victims who have filed claims since the bankruptcy filing. "Under the settlement as it stands now, there is no relationship between the amount of money a parish raises for the plan of reorganization and its ability to protect its church," Hailey said. The settlement also does not account for other parish expenses, such as the legal costs of the bankruptcy, replenishing priest retirement funds and other obligations that could cost more than $10 million, he said. If the bankruptcy judge approves the settlement plan anyway, the association of parishes will seek to amend it, Hailey said. Friday was the deadline for victims to file sex-abuse claims against the Spokane Diocese. A final number has not been released, but earlier this week diocese officials said at least 176 people had filed claims – more than double the number that prompted the bankruptcy filing a year ago.
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