The Archdiocese of Milwaukee's bankruptcy is at risk of becoming the first of its kind in the nation to fail to compensate sex abuse victims equitably, creditors say in a court filing this week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported yesterday. If the archdiocese is as broke as it said it was in a recent court motion, the creditors insist it should begin selling properties, tap what could be $150 million in its cemetery and Faith In Our Future funds and aggressively pursue newly discovered insurance policies that may cover its handling of the sex abuse crisis. The creditors are responding to an archdiocese motion asking Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley to let it halt most payments of its legal and professional fees, and fold those costs into its reorganization plan, arguing that they will soon hinder its ability to pay its monthly bills. Creditors blame the church's financial troubles on its unprecedented strategy of objecting to hundreds of the sex-abuse claims filed, and say failure to pay its fees would bar it from developing a reorganization plan.
