Diocese may soon settle with abuse survivors By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola Gallup Independent correspondent religion@gallupindependent.com December 17, 2015 ALBUQUERQUE — An agreement hasn’t been signed yet, but attorneys for the Diocese of Gallup are finalizing a settlement with attorneys representing clergy sex abuse claimants in the diocese’s bankruptcy case. Although no specific details were provided during a court hearing Wednesday, attorneys for the diocese and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which represents the interests of sex abuse claimants, confirmed a settlement was in the works in brief statements made to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma. A third mediation session with all the parties in the case was held in Phoenix Dec. 3-4. Inking a settlement deal will be a step forward toward the diocese’s goal of confirming a consensual plan of reorganization. The Gallup Diocese filed its Chapter 11 petition Nov. 12, 2013, after it was named as a defendant in 13 clergy sex abuse lawsuits in Arizona’s Coconino County Superior Court. Susan Boswell, the diocese’s lead bankruptcy attorney, and James Stang, the legal counsel for the Unsecured Creditors Committee, who both appeared telephonically, confirmed that parties in the case had come to an agreement on a settlement with abuse claimants. Stang said the parties were now working out the non-monetary terms of the settlement as well as some unresolved issues involving the future claims representative. Neither Boswell nor Stang indicated when the settlement agreement is expected to be finalized. Attorneys representing the New Mexico Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association and Catholic Mutual, as well as attorneys for the Franciscan Province St. John the Baptist have been involved in the mediation sessions. For much of the year, disputes about the possible financial liability of the diocese’s insurers have dominated court hearings and motions. Wednesday’s hearing had been scheduled as a preliminary hearing on a motion for relief from automatic stay, filed by Houston attorney Donald H. Kidd, and a status conference on pending stay relief motions filed earlier in the year by Phoenix attorney Robert E. Pastor. Those attorneys, who represent sex abuse claimants, have sought to have the bankruptcy court’s automatic stay against litigation lifted so they can take some of their clergy sex abuse claims to trial in state court. Kidd, along with fellow attorney Richard Fass, traveled from Houston to attend Wednesday’s hearing. Without the impending settlement agreement, responses to Kidd’s motion had been due before the court. In comments after the hearing, Kidd and Fass confirmed as long as the settlement agreement is not finalized, hearings on the stay relief motions will continue to be scheduled. With the impending settlement, Wednesday’s hearings were continued. “We have an agreement in principle in respect to the plan of reorganization,” Fass said. But until that agreement becomes documented, Kidd added, he will also continue to hold reservations about the settlement.

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