Three years after it declared bankruptcy as a way to deal with its mounting sex abuse claims, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is poised to file the reorganization plan that will detail how it compensates abuse victims and operates as an institution into the future, the Milwaukee (Wis.) Journal Sentinel reported today. The archdiocese is preparing that plan, but it has offered few hints about its content or when it might be filed in bankruptcy court. The Milwaukee bankruptcy, filed by Archbishop Jerome Listecki in January 2011, came after the archdiocese had been largely successful in fighting lawsuits dating back at least to the 1950s. With 575 sex abuse claims and legal fees topping $11 million, it is one of the largest and most contentious bankruptcies filed by Catholic dioceses around the country, say observers and lawyers who've worked on those cases.
