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XPost: atl.general

The Catholic Church in Guam has announced plans to file Chapter
11 bankruptcy, in an attempt to cope with the scores of sexual
abuse claims against clergy in the U.S. territory. Archbishop
Michael Byrnes said the Archdiocese of Agana settled on the move
as the most expedient way to support the alleged victims.

"Over the last two years, we've done our best. We've
strengthened our policies for a safe environment. We've educated
over 2,000 people in the practices of safe environment
protection of minors. We've made a lot of great strides," Byrnes
said at a news conference Wednesday.

"But our biggest issue is the almost 200 victim survivors of
sexual abuse."

Byrnes took over as archbishop on the West Pacific island in
2016, shortly after his predecessor, Anthony Apuron, was
suspended under a cloud of suspicion. Apuron has been accused of
sexually abusing minors — including his own nephew -- and
helping to cover up similar abuses by priests and other Catholic
authority figures in Guam. The allegations date back decades.

Earlier this year the Vatican convicted Apuron of unspecified
charges, removed him from office and forbade him from returning
to the territory, according to the Catholic News Agency. Apuron
has flatly denied the allegations; the news service notes that
Pope Francis is personally considering his appeal.

Meanwhile, back in Guam, the Catholic Church has been buried
under a mound of lawsuits connected to the accusations. Keith
Talbot, an attorney for the Church, said the decision to file
bankruptcy grew out of information gleaned from mediation
sessions beginning in September.

"Bankruptcy does two really good things for us. One is finality
for the archdiocese going forward," Talbot explained. As part
for the process, a judge will set a deadline — effectively a
kind of statute of limitations — for claimants to come forward
with any new lawsuits. "The other part is that bankruptcy is the
method to deliver the greatest measure of justice to the
greatest number of victims."

In this respect, Leander James agrees. He's an attorney with the
firm James, Vernon and Weeks, which is representing nearly a
dozen of the alleged victims.

"I think this bankruptcy was necessary to create an avenue
toward a final settlement," James told NPR. "It will also
provide the archdiocese a road out of this dark jungle it's been
in. For years now, they've been trying to find their way out. I
think this may provide that path."

When the archdiocese sets down that path, likely officially
filing bankruptcy in December or January, it will not be the
first to do so. Far from it, in fact.

To this point at least 19 dioceses and religious orders have
filed — or announced their intention to file — for bankruptcy
protection in the U.S. in efforts to settle sexual abuse claims,
according to Catholic watchdog BishopAccountability.org.

Along with lawsuits, the church was hit with a damning
Pennsylvania grand jury probe released in August. That 900-page
report, which implicated some 300 "predator priests," has
inspired state and local officials to launch investigations of
their own across the country.

To date, claims of clergy sex abuse have cost the Church more
than $3 billion in major settlements and awards doled out to
alleged victims.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/07/665276472/guams-catholic-church- to-file-bankruptcy-amid-deluge-of-sex-abuse-lawsuits
 

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