"I hope all abuse survivors, reassured by the court’s decision, will soon be able to choose the path of settlement and closure on this aspect of their quest for justice and healing," said Thomas Abood, chairman of the archdiocese's Reorganization Task Force.
In a move that further enhances the chances a $14 million settlement secured by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis with Catholic Mutual Insurance will become available to victims, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Kressel approved a future claim representative in the archdiocese’s ongoing Chapter 11 Reorganization case at a Feb. 9 hearing.
A committee representing sexual abuse claimants filed Aug. 10 to appeal a bankruptcy court judge’s ruling that declined to consolidate the assets of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis with those of parishes and other Catholic entities in the archdiocese’s bankruptcy process.
“Even if I had the authority to substantively consolidate the debtor with non-consenting, eleemosynary [nonprofit] non-debtors, the committee failed to allege sufficient facts to support substantive consolidation,” Judge Robert Kressel wrote in a 10-page decision.
