Nearly 400 claims have been filed against New Mexico's largest and oldest Roman Catholic diocese as part of a pending bankruptcy case that stems from the clergy sex abuse scandal, church officials announced on Friday, the Associated Press reported. The Archdiocese of Santa Fe reported that 395 people filed claims against the church as of the June 17 deadline. That included 374 claims involving allegations of sex abuse. The remaining 21 were related to other grievances. The archdiocese shocked parishioners across much of New Mexico when it filed for chapter 11 reorganization last year, joining nearly two dozen other dioceses around the U.S. that have been struggling with the fallout from the abuse scandal. When it first announced its decision to file for reorganization, the archdiocese said it had already paid out $52 million in insurance money and its own funds to settle 300 claims that had been filed over the years. In its bankruptcy petition, the archdiocese claimed nearly $50 million in assets, including real estate valued at more than $31 million. The filing also showed more than $57 million in property was being held in trust for numerous parishes, and property transfers worth an additional $34 million were done over the past couple years.
