The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis unveiled a bankruptcy-reorganization plan on Thursday that sets aside at least $65 million to help compensate hundreds of clergy sexual-abuse victims, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The plan was filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Minneapolis after negotiations with victims’ lawyers and the archdiocese’s insurance companies failed to produce a consensual resolution to the bankruptcy. In what is known as a “cramdown” in bankruptcy parlance, the archdiocese has asked Judge Robert Kressel, the judge overseeing the chapter 11 case, to approve the plan over victims’ objections. Victims say that the archdiocese’s actual contribution to the plan, about $13.1 million, amounts to only a small fraction of the value of the archdiocese’s total assets. The plan is largely funded by settlements with the archdiocese’s insurers. Another significant slice of the funding, about $13.7 million, is being provided by parishes’ insurance companies. About $8.7 million is coming from the sale of the archbishop’s residence and several other properties earlier this year.
