Roughly 400 people who allege that they were sexually preyed upon by local priests and deacons went to bankruptcy court and sought compensation from the Archdiocese of New Orleans before last week’s deadline for victims of clerical abuse to file such claims, church officials said yesterday, NOLA.com reported. The announcement provides clarity as to the number and potential value of remaining clerical abuse cases that the archdiocese will have to settle or litigate before it can reorganize its finances, a process that started when the church filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy last May. March 1 was the final day a sexual abuse claim could be filed in the case, which is the only avenue for compensation for those claiming they were molested prior to the bankruptcy filing. Whoever had such claims but didn’t pursue compensation by the deadline has forever lost the right to do so. Plaintiffs’ attorney Jeff Anderson, who has represented abuse claimants against virtually all of the 27 U.S. Catholic dioceses that have declared bankruptcy, said he believes 400 claims is relatively low for the church in New Orleans, given that the archdiocese serves about a half-million parishioners and currently has a list of more than 70 clergy who have been credibly accused of sexually molesting children or vulnerable adults. For the sake of comparison, the Diocese of Buffalo filed for bankruptcy last February and the court has given claimants until August of this year to file, eight months more than New Orleans claimants received. The Buffalo diocese, which serves about 700,000 Catholics, estimates it will end up receiving 400 abuse claims, but it’s impossible to know if that will prove anywhere near accurate.
