More than 265 people have come forward since March to file confidential claims seeking damages for childhood sexual abuse by priests and other Catholic clergy members as part of the ongoing chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed by the archdiocese of Santa Fe. The number could easily top 300 by Monday’s deadline for filing claims in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Mexico, the Albuquerque Journal reported. To stem the financial drain from clergy child sex abuse lawsuits, the archdiocese filed for chapter 11 reorganization in December and disclosed on its website that nearly 300 claims from survivors had already been settled through mediation over the past 25 years. At the time of the bankruptcy filing, the archdiocese was facing about three dozen lawsuits or claims from survivors. Archbishop of Santa Fe John C. Wester said that insurance has paid a substantial portion of settlements in the past but that the bankruptcy filing would help ensure a “global resolution” so all claims of child abuse survivors can be settled “fairly and equitably.”
