Clergy Abuse Victims Question Milwaukee Archdiocese’s Asset Disclosure In Court

Clergy abuse victims argued with the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese in court on Thursday over what the church is revealing in an asset disclosure document.

The church has made a $4 million settlement offer to about one quarter of the 500-plus clergy abuse victims that say they belong in the Milwaukee case. Victims groups say the proposal excludes too many people and is financially inadequate.

As part of the review process, federal bankruptcy judge Susan Kelley and the various parties are looking at the Archdiocese’s 144-page asset disclosure statement. Peter Isely of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests says it’s a line-by-line examination, although he also calls it a “lie-by-lie” examination.

“If they present a document, as they always seem to, saying that the Earth is flat, we have to challenge that document,” said Isely. “Because the Earth isn’t flat, it’s round.”

Abuse survivor Monica Barrett says she wants to know more about $2 million the Archdiocese says it has it on hand for matters within the church. “And yet, survivors are supposed to believe that they’re struggling to come up with a measly $4 million by which to compensate survivors,” she said. “And the fact that they want to exclude 80 percent of survivors is reprehensible.”

Kelley told the Archdiocese’s lawyers to explain why the church’s plan would give money to one group of victims and not others, instead of letting the victims decide among themselves how the money would be divided.

It also appears an appeals court in Chicago will review a decision by another federal judge in Milwaukee that protected the church’s $57 million cemetery trust fund from being available in the bankruptcy case.

Updated: The Archdiocese did not respond to WPR’s requests until after the story had aired; their response is summarized below:

The Milwaukee Archdiocese says it’s glad that a bankruptcy hearing Thursday set up a process to approve its financial disclosure statement, and is also glad that a hearing date will be set. The church says it’s important that the bankruptcy proceeding keep moving forward as the Archdiocese tries to emerge from Chapter 11.