The Diocese of Duluth, Minn., is expected to enter mediation with clergy sexual abuse victims, following in the footsteps of other bankrupt dioceses that have sought to resolve growing legal and financial turmoil tied to the abuse crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Ford Elsaesser, a lawyer for the diocese, said on Friday that the diocese will “very likely” seek the appointment of a mediator. Mediation is likely the best opportunity to resolve the diocese’s bankruptcy case, which was filed Monday, through a settlement that compensates victims and also protects the church from future litigation. The Diocese of Helena, Mont., which filed for bankruptcy in January 2014, spent less than five hours in court, resolving much of its case in mediation. Other diocesan bankruptcies have stretched out over years, racking up huge legal bills. Judge Robert Kressel, who is also overseeing the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’s bankruptcy, said he had already begun to consider who might serve as a mediator for the Duluth diocese, likely another bankruptcy judge.
