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	Anchorage Diocese Sells Property to Cover Lawsuit Expenses The Associated Press, carried in Anchorage Daily News September 27, 2006 http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/8239742p-8136587c.html Anchorage, Alaska (AP) - The Catholic Archdiocese of Anchorage has put up residential property for sale to cover settlements in priest abuse lawsuits. The archdiocese must pay about $760,000 to cover its share of settlements in three lawsuits, said Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz. A fourth case is pending. "It is my hope that takes care of any of the victims who are out there, and hopefully we've helped bring some healing into their lives," Schwietz said Tuesday. The Anchorage lawsuits recently settled include one against the Rev. Frank Murphy that involved five victims. Another accused a former Kenai priest, the late Rev. Robert Wells, of abusing a girl starting when she was 8 or 9 and continuing for eight years. In the third case, an Anchorage man accused the Rev. Robert Bester of asking him for sexual favors. Counting previous payments and fees for lawyers and counseling, the Anchorage Archdiocese has paid out about $1.5 million to address sexual abuse claims, he said. Insurance policies have paid off additional amounts, he said. None of the money has come from parish collections or other fund appeals, according to the archdiocese. The property for sale most recently was home to Schwietz at Stanley Drive and 76th Avenue in a West Anchorage neighborhood of older homes. There are two dwellings on the half-acre lot, a 3,655-square-foot main house built in 1966 and a cottage built in 1962. The homes used to be the convent for the Sisters of St. Ann. The order left the state 10 years ago. Jesuit volunteers lived in it for a while. The home was renovated before Schwietz moved there in 2000. A Catholic brother lived on the lower level most of that time. The archdiocese previously had sold commercial property to compensate the family of Service High School principal Pat Podvin in a private settlement, Schwietz said. Podvin committed suicide in 2004 after publicly disclosing he had been abused as a teenager by Murphy. Around the country, the Catholic Church has struggled with how to pay settlements and jury verdicts in lawsuits claiming sexual abuse by priests, brothers and volunteers. The Archdiocese of Portland and the Diocese of Spokane are in bankruptcy court because of financial pressures that arose from sex abuse claims. The Catholic Diocese of Tucson filed for bankruptcy reorganization in 2004. It emerged the next year and ultimately paid about $22 million to settle sex abuse cases, most of it insurance money, said spokesman Fred Allison. Ten priests, a brother and two volunteers have been named in lawsuits against the Fairbanks diocese involving more than 100 purported victims. The accusations in the cases all date back 20 to 50 years and are so old it's often impossible to determine the responsibility, if any, of the diocese as the supervisor of the accused priest or volunteer, said Ronnie Rosenberg, human resource director and litigation coordinator for the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks. That diocese defense is that the statute of limitations has run out, she said. Still, the diocese has settled some and is evaluating the rest case by case. The diocese does not have a lot of options, she said. The older cases are not covered by insurance. "The rectory for the cathedral priest is a trailer. It's not like we have mansions and lovely homes to sell," Rosenberg said. In Anchorage, it was an easy call to sell the Stanley Drive house, Schwietz said. Retired Archbishop Francis Hurley lives in a house on 11th Avenue and no one wanted to displace him. Sisters and priests live in fourplexes owned by the archdiocese and selling them would have been disruptive. A financial council of Catholic business leaders signed off on the decision, he said. A committee is working on a long-range plan for all archdiocese properties, he said. Ultimately, a home for the archbishop could be built on the grounds of the Holy Spirit Center on the Hillside, which Schwietz visualizes being updated as a conference and retreat center. He is now living in a rented home.
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