Attorneys representing alleged victims of sexual abuse by clergy in the Diocese of Gallup, N.M., have asked a judge to allow civil trials to proceed in three cases as a way to “break logjams” in the diocese’s chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Albuquerque Journal reported today. The request followed the failure of court-ordered mediation talks last month. An attorney for the diocese, meanwhile, is asking Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma to order another round of negotiations with a new mediator. The Diocese of Gallup in 2013 became the nation’s ninth Roman Catholic diocese to file for chapter 11 protection in response to a growing number of lawsuits filed by alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests. Motions filed in the case indicate that mediation efforts failed because parties, including the diocese’s insurance companies, could not agree on the value of claims filed against the diocese.
