Milwaukee Archdiocese filing for bankruptcy

[Pakuni]

By Associated Press
MILWAUKEE — The Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee has directed its attorneys to file for bankruptcy protection, saying pending sexual-abuse lawsuits have left it with debts it can't pay.

Archbishop Jerome Listecki said Tuesday the archdiocese was undergoing Chapter 11 reorganization so that it would be able to continue its mission as a church while compensating victims of sexual abuse.

"In my installation homily on January 4, 2010, I spoke of the devastation of sin and its effect on us personally and as a community," Archbishop Jerome Listecki said in a statement. "We see the result of that sin today. This action is occurring because priest-perpetrators sexually abused minors, going against everything the church and the priesthood represents."

Seven other U.S. Catholic dioceses have sought bankruptcy protection from sex abuse claims since the clergy abuse scandal erupted in 2002 in Boston. Those dioceses are in Davenport, Iowa; Fairbanks, Alaska; Portland, Ore.; San Diego; Spokane, Wash.; Tucson, Ariz.; and Wilmington, Del.

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110104/news/110109798/

[chren21]

I'm not a lawyer....  What exactly does that mean for the future of the church in those areas?

[Sir Lawrence]

What it means in the short term here in Milwaukee is that the filing results in an automatic stay of the civil proceedings against the Archdiocese, so the scheduled deposition of Bishop Skilba, who apparently knows every dark secret, will not take place in February.  

Long term, it allows payment to the victims with current Church assets, on sort of a pro-rata basis, allowing the Church to move forward once those claims are resolved.  I'm not saying I'm in favor of the move, but it's not surprising as the mediation in December with the victims failed.  Milwaukee had to pay out a ton to some California victims because of a priest that Milwaukee knew was a molester relocated to California and did it again.  And again......

[mu_hilltopper]

I hear the Lutheran church is accepting new members...

[ChicosBailBonds]

What it means in the short term here in Milwaukee is that the filing results in an automatic stay of the civil proceedings against the Archdiocese, so the scheduled deposition of Bishop Skilba, who apparently knows every dark secret, will not take place in February.  

Long term, it allows payment to the victims with current Church assets, on sort of a pro-rata basis, allowing the Church to move forward once those claims are resolved.  I'm not saying I'm in favor of the move, but it's not surprising as the mediation in December with the victims failed.  Milwaukee had to pay out a ton to some California victims because of a priest that Milwaukee knew was a molester relocated to California and did it again.  And again......

On a related note


http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/dave-pierre/2011/01/02/wheres-media-la-atty-declares-many-abuse-accusations-against-catholic-p

[Hards Alumni]

Time to start selling indulgences again?

[MUEng92]

I don't mean to make light of the topic, but earlier this afternoon, my Google Desktop headline news items appeared like this...

-Bishop signs for 4 years, $19 million
-Archdiocese of Milwaukee files for bankruptcy

well duh!!!

[GGGG]

On a related note

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/dave-pierre/2011/01/02/wheres-media-la-atty-declares-many-abuse-accusations-against-catholic-p

I have no doubt this is the case...but that's not really the point of this whole thing you know.

[Jules1993MUWarrior]

 

This angers me to no end!!  This situation has been going on for years, and he knew it before he accepted his nomination.  Not saying it's his fault, but the Catholic Church needs HUGE changes.  I won't take my kids there even though I was born and raised Catholic and attended MU.  So the archbishop has acknowledged that they knew this was going on.

I am enraged by their lack of ignoring this and then he is trying to make a name for himself and save the church by filing bankruptcy.  Maybe he should have studied accounting like I did at MU.  I learned more morals and values as an accountant than they teach the priests???

Sorry, needed this vent! 

[Jules1993MUWarrior]

Sir Lawrence, how can the Church dictate our behaviour when they can't even set a standard.  Your posture made it sound okay and for the ? church to act as a business/ revenue generating bussiness.  Which I know it is.   Just very disappointing!!

[ChicosBailBonds]

I have no doubt this is the case...but that's not really the point of this whole thing you know.

Understood, that's why I said in a related note.

[Sir Lawrence]

Sir Lawrence, how can the Church dictate our behaviour when they can't even set a standard.  Your posture made it sound okay and for the ? church to act as a business/ revenue generating bussiness.  Which I know it is.   Just very disappointing!!

I was responding to the question raised by chren21.  You don't know me if you think I'm happy with the way the Archdiocese has handled itself in these matters, and others.  One example:  Take a walk on the east side of the Cathedral building here in Milwaukee.  I think its the Van Buren Street side.  Guess what is prominently displayed there?  A sign proclaiming it to be  "The Archbishop Weakland Center."  So the self-aggrandizing knob shine that took hundreds of thousand of dollars in an attempt to purchase the silence of his lover, gets a "center" named after him.   

[HouWarrior]

Chapter 11-- why?
Reorg only gains approval if ,among other elements, the reorg demonstrates the victims/creditors will receive more in a reorg than they would in a straight liquidation, in which all assets are sold, and the proceeds split pro rata.
Does the Diocese have all its properties liened up to secured creditors, or are its properties free and clear, with lots of liquidation value?
I did a ton of Chapter 11 work in Houston's BR boom in the mid 80's. In this case, I'd enjoy working for the victims group to force the issue and a total liquidation.
Moral bankrupcty,  merits a Chapter 7 bankruptcy total loss of property.

"Bankrupcty" is a word from the italian of "Banco Rotto" meaning broken bench. When a merchant failed to pay his debts, the others would break the bench from which he sold his wares to ensure he could no longer ply his trade. Rome should know/experience the meaning of Banco Rotto, thereby learning that "my kingdom is not of this world".

[Josey Wales]

How can local segments of the catholic church have to file for bankruptcy when the overall catholic church is so incredibly profitable? Don't they help each other out at all?

[GGGG]

How can local segments of the catholic church have to file for bankruptcy when the overall catholic church is so incredibly profitable? Don't they help each other out at all?

They are legally seperate entities.

[Benny B]

How can local segments of the catholic church have to file for bankruptcy when the overall catholic church is so incredibly profitable? Don't they help each other out at all?

Apparently the Catholic Church figured out Phase 2.  Take that you stupid gnomes.

[Benny B]

This angers me to no end!!  This situation has been going on for years, and he knew it before he accepted his nomination.  Not saying it's his fault, but the Catholic Church needs HUGE changes.  I won't take my kids there even though I was born and raised Catholic and attended MU.  So the archbishop has acknowledged that they knew this was going on.

I am enraged by their lack of ignoring this and then he is trying to make a name for himself and save the church by filing bankruptcy.  Maybe he should have studied accounting like I did at MU.  I learned more morals and values as an accountant than they teach the priests???

Sorry, needed this vent! 

So what changes do you propose?  The Pope has already condemned the actions of these priests.  The Council of Bishops has already come out against it.  Milwaukee isn't the first diocese to pay compensation to victims and certainly won't be the last.  The church has taken a PR hit from which it will not soon recover.  Rolls have decreased as an increasing number of "Catholics" no longer attend mass, citing priest abuse scandals as a reason.

What more is necessary?  Should Archbishop Listecki bear some sort of personal responsibility here?  Should the victims go after the 99% of priests and bishops who were innocent in this scandal?  Perhaps we should hold lay ministers responsible too for not rooting this out sooner?  Why not go after the financial assets of anyone who attended mass over the past year because apparently their continued membership is merely condoning the scandal?

Believe me... I would like to see anyone who participated in such scandals in any material capacity punished to the fullest extent of canon law and the U.S. Constitution... be they defrocked, sued, jailed, etc.  But apparently, that's still not enough for some ill-informed people, the anti-Catholic crowd, and our sensationalistic media outlets.

If elaborate humiliation and punishment that doesn't fit the crime is your cup of tea, might I suggest visiting such sought-after tourist destinations as Iran, North Korea, Myanmar, etc.  Otherwise, a Chapter 11 petition is well within the rights of the Archdiocese, as it is with any other person or entity recognized by the laws of this country.

[GGGG]

Benny, I am not Catholic, but I think part of the growing frustration from my Catholic friends are:

1. Those who helped participate in the cover-up are part of the current Church leadership...including the Pope himself.

2.  The continued attempts to avade responsibility by placing blame on "society," and not the permissiveness in which the Church operated.

3. The fact that their donations are being used to pay off civil suits that could have been avoided entirely should these same leaders have been doing their jobs in the first place.

[jaybilaswho?]

At least some of the Priests were able to take a time out from all the stress of the bankruptcy last night and attend the MU/ND game.

[MerrittsMustache]

At least some of the Priests were able to take a time out from all the stress of the bankruptcy last night and attend the MU/ND game.

...and they were announced to the crowd while sitting in a suite. Next headline should probably be "Milwaukee Archdiocese Fires PR Director"

[GGGG]

...and they were announced to the crowd while sitting in a suite. Next headline should probably be "Milwaukee Archdiocese Fires PR Director"

And I heard there were more than a few boos???

[Benny B]

And I heard there were more than a few boos???

I didn't hear any booing, but everyone around me had a look on their face as if to say, "you've got to be f-ing kidding me" to whoever was directing the jumbo-tron crew.

That being said, the group was announced as the "Archdiocesan Clergy"... I'm not up on my lingo, but is that synonymous with "Archdiocesan Leadership" or could it have perhaps simply been priests from the Archdiocese?  I didn't see +Listecki in that group, but I thought for a moment I saw Fr. Wild [who knows, all these old, white priests look the same to me at times].  In any event, if it was merely priests from the Archdiocese, fine... no big deal, but the PR guy should still be fired, and the P.A. announcer needs to exorcise his inner-Ron Burgundy when reading his scripts.  If the former was true, however... very, very, very shortsighted decision on the part of the Archdiocese.

[rugbydrummer]

I didn't hear any booing, but everyone around me had a look on their face as if to say, "you've got to be f-ing kidding me" to whoever was directing the jumbo-tron crew.

That being said, the group was announced as the "Archdiocesan Clergy"... I'm not up on my lingo, but is that synonymous with "Archdiocesan Leadership" or could it have perhaps simply been priests from the Archdiocese?  I didn't see +Listecki in that group, but I thought for a moment I saw Fr. Wild [who knows, all these old, white priests look the same to me at times].  In any event, if it was merely priests from the Archdiocese, fine... no big deal, but the PR guy should still be fired, and the P.A. announcer needs to exorcise his inner-Ron Burgundy when reading his scripts.  If the former was true, however... very, very, very shortsighted decision on the part of the Archdiocese.

FWIW, I thought i saw Robert A. Wild too, however, i didn't recognize anyone else which doesn't mean anything in particular as I would only know a handful of priests from the parish I attend . . . yeah that was the weirdest thing ever.  I still don't quite understand the story regarding the bankruptcy, and am not so sure i should be contributing to the offertory at mass anymore 

[Benny B]

FWIW, I thought i saw Robert A. Wild too, however, i didn't recognize anyone else which doesn't mean anything in particular as I would only know a handful of priests from the parish I attend . . . yeah that was the weirdest thing ever.  I still don't quite understand the story regarding the bankruptcy, and am not so sure i should be contributing to the offertory at mass anymore  

Simply don't contribute to a second collection being taken for the Archdiocese (not that I believe many parishes are doing that any way).  The assets of individual parishes should be safe, so you may not want to short your own parish, especially since its not going to be receiving any financial assistance from the archdiocese for quite some time...

BK isn't always a bad thing.  But sometimes bad people can force you into it, and it's the only way to ensure survival.  If done correctly and within the spirit of the law, I completely understand the need for and have no problem with BK... that is, unless the entity declaring BK is an unsecured debtor of mine.

[jaybilaswho?]

I think I saw that the parishes and schools are safe and are not considered to be under the Milwaukee Archdiocese. Will look for more info during lunch.