The Archdiocese of Santa Fe and representatives for church clergy sex abuse survivors announced agreement Tuesday on a $121.5 million fund to compensate hundreds of adults who contend they were subjected to childhood sexual abuse by priests and other clergy dating back decades, the Albuquerque Journal reported. The announcement in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Albuquerque kicked off a new phase of the 41-month-old chapter 11 reorganization sought by the archdiocese to stem financial losses from continuing legal claims that it failed to protect children from pedophile priests and other clergy assigned to schools and parishes. Still to come is the allocation process of deciding how much to pay each of the 394 or so claimants. The next step would be for the claimants to vote on the reorganization plan. The archdiocese was facing about 36 lawsuits alleging clergy abuse when Archbishop John C. Wester announced the bankruptcy filing in 2018, saying he hoped it would help provide a fair and equitable settlement with survivors. The bankruptcy put the pending civil cases on hold. Of the 29 Catholic dioceses or religious orders to file for bankruptcy protection in the past 20 years, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe’s proposed settlement would be among the largest monetary payouts to survivors, with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the San Diego Diocese, and a Jesuit religious order in Portland, Oregon, paying higher amounts. The Archdiocese of Santa Fe case also has one of the largest number of claimants alleging sexual abuse. Money for the settlement comes from the proceeds of archdiocese sales of property and other assets, contributions from parishes in the archdiocese, and insurance proceeds.
