The Buffalo (N.Y.) Diocese is offering up to $100 million to settle child sex abuse claims in its federal bankruptcy case, the Buffalo News reported. As much as half of that would come from parishes, schools and other Catholic entities, while the diocese would also need to sell its Catholic Center on Main Street, the former Christ the King Seminary campus in the Town of Aurora and other properties. Those details were revealed in court papers filed late Monday in which diocese lawyers sought a preliminary injunction to keep all sex abuse lawsuits against parishes and schools grounded while mediated negotiations in the diocese bankruptcy case continue. Court papers said that the $100 million does not include insurance funds, while suggesting that insurance companies additionally could contribute “perhaps even hundreds of millions of dollars” to a settlement. Ilan D. Scharf, lead attorney for the unsecured creditors' committee that represents about 850 abuse claimants in the Buffalo Diocese bankruptcy case, declined to comment Tuesday on the numbers unveiled by the diocese lawyers. But some plaintiffs' lawyers on Tuesday accused the diocese of trying to "silence survivors" in its motion to halt the lawsuits. The Buffalo Diocese settlement offer appears to be very similar to the pending chapter 11 reorganization plan the Syracuse Diocese announced in July. Syracuse Bishop Douglas J. Lucia at the time said that the diocese had reached a deal with its creditors committee in which it would pay $50 million to a settlement trust, while its parishes would contribute $45 million, and $5 million would come from other Catholic entities. The full plan could be filed in court as early as next month.
