A federal judge has denied a motion by survivors of clergy sexual abuse to have bankruptcy proceedings against the Catholic Church on Long Island dismissed, Newsday reported. The motion, if approved, would have sent some 600 cases back to state court for trials and potential payouts. The Diocese of Rockville Centre praised the decision by Hon. Martin Glenn, while some attorneys for survivors said that it will further drag out negotiations for a settlement nearly three years after the diocese declared bankruptcy. But other attorneys said they believe that Judge Glenn is still giving the diocese a hard deadline of making a deal by Oct. 31, or taking the unprecedented step of kicking a Catholic diocese out of bankruptcy. Judge Glenn ruled that attorneys for the survivors failed to show that it is not possible for the diocese to come up with a deal in a “reasonable amount of time.” He, therefore, rejected their motion to dismiss the bankruptcy proceedings. He also sided with the diocese in giving the parties until Oct. 31 to agree to a deal, instead of 30 days as the survivors proposed. But Judge Glenn also indicated that he may not wait forever. “Time is beginning to weigh against the” diocese, he wrote, “because none of the dynamics in this case serve to explain why it is approaching three years with no proposal of a confirmable plan.”
