In a move that could further complicate the already contentious final chapter in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester’s bankruptcy, the U.S. Trustee is urging the court to reject competing plans of reorganization filed by the diocese and the Continental Insurance Co., the Rochester Beacon reported. The Trustee’s Dec. 5 filing comes on the eve of hearings scheduled for the court to consider the dueling plans filed by the diocese and Continental. Also known as CNA, Continental is a lone holdout among several insurers refusing to go along with a plan agreed to by the diocese, other insurance companies and survivors with claims in the bankruptcy. Projecting that the bankruptcy would end with a more than $100 million payout to abuse survivors, diocese officials stated early on that they expected the church’s liability carriers to shoulder the bulk of the financial burden. The diocese and Continental filed competing reorganization plans earlier this year after ongoing tortuous, court-ordered negotiations failed to yield an agreement acceptable to the official creditors' committee. Such plans are the final step in resolving chapter 11s. Made up of abuse survivors, the creditors committee is a body appointed by the U.S. Trustee to look out for the interests of the more than 400 sexual abuse survivors who have now waited more than four years for the chapter 11 to wrap up. Both the insurer’s and the diocese’s plans contain provisions that render them unconfirmable and should be scrapped, attorneys in the Trustee’s New York City office maintain in the Dec. 5 filling.
