%1

A bankruptcy judge ordered the Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth, Minn., and lawyers for more than 100 clergy sexual abuse victims to a three-day mediation session in July, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Court papers filed this week show that Bankruptcy Judge Gregg Zive will serve as the mediator at a conference slated to begin July 19, at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Minneapolis. The Diocese of Duluth, which is home to more than 55,000 parishioners, filed for bankruptcy in December after a jury awarded more than $8 million to a man who said he was sexually abused in the late 1970s by a priest working in the diocese. The diocese has said that it knew nothing about the abuse and couldn’t have prevented it. At the time it sought chapter 11 protection, the diocese faced about 18 individual abuse claims, but the number has since grown to about 110 as of Monday, according to court records. Victims’ lawyers have said that they expected more claims to come in before the deadline ran out on Wednesday. Read more. (Subscription required.) 

Get in-depth instructions and advice on effectively using mediation to achieve resolution between debtors and creditors from some of the most knowledgeable and effective mediators in the field by picking up ABI’s new title, Bankruptcy Mediation. Click here to pre-order.