The Archdiocese of Santa Fe and four insurance companies Monday backed away from a request to have some records sealed from public view in its bankruptcy case involving hundreds of people who allege sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. During a meeting and conference call with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Thuma, attorneys in the case also discussed the sale last week of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Retreat and Conference Center in Santa Fe for about $6.75 million. Modern Elder Academy, a Santa Fe-area business that offers lifelong learning opportunities, confirmed it is the buyer. The archdiocese is selling properties in an effort to raise enough money to settle its chapter 11 bankruptcy with more than 400 claimants of clergy sexual abuse. Archdiocese attorney Thomas Walker had argued last month in a court filing the archdiocese and numerous insurers reached confidential agreements in the 1990s, when the clergy abuse scandal began to gain attention. Los Angeles attorney James Stang, an attorney for a committee that represents victims in the case, objected to the motion to keep the documents sealed. Stang wrote in a response to the archdiocese’s request “the need for transparency is overwhelming and creditors [victims] should not be kept in the dark.”
