Diocese bankruptcy settlement progressing By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola Gallup Independent correspondent religion@gallupindependent.com January 7, 2016 ALBUQUERQUE – Plans to finalize a settlement agreement in the Diocese of Gallup’s Chapter 11 case are moving forward, according to statements made by diocesan attorneys during a status conference before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma Wednesday. Fifteen attorneys representing clergy sex abuse claimants, the Gallup Diocese and its insurers, two Franciscan provinces and St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School attended the hearing either in person or telephonically. The hearing, which moved quickly, featured little discussion and was notable for its lack of disputes or dissension. Thomas D. Walker, the diocese’s Albuquerque bankruptcy attorney, said a proposed settlement agreement will be circulated next week to all the different parties in the case, with some of the attorneys working to draft their own revisions. “And so progress is being made,” Walker told Thuma. A meeting scheduled for Friday, he added, will focus on the non-monetary terms of the agreement. Susan Boswell, the diocese’s lead bankruptcy attorney, said she hoped a reorganization plan will be filed in early February. Young Kim, an attorney for Michael P. Murphy who was hired to be the future claims representative, voiced one unresolved problem during the hearing Wednesday. Citing confidentiality issues, Kim declined to provide names or details about the circumstances, but he told Thuma he had not been able to make progress getting one of the parties to return his calls and talk with him. The judge said he wouldn’t press Kim about who he was “trying to talk to” and “why they aren’t calling him back,” but he left that open as a subject for future discussion. “If there’s a problem, I want to hear about it,” Thuma said. The only other concern raised about the proposed settlement agreement came from Assistant U.S. Trustee Ronald Andazola. The position of his office, Andazola said, was that all the terms of the settlement should be public information. The next status conference is scheduled for Jan. 19.

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