Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spokane Diocese Bankruptcy

News related to the church sex abuse scandal and the Spokane Diocese bankruptcy proceedings.

News >  Business

Diocese issues payout plan

A person raped by a priest as a child can receive a settlement of up to $1.5 million from the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, Bankruptcy Court records show. The diocese has released its payment plan, or matrix, that describes the legal process necessary to assign dollar amounts to specific acts of sexual abuse. The payments are part of a diocese plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection and settle claims of priest sex abuse dating back decades.
News >  Business

Trustee asserts diocese bill high

Bankruptcy lawyers have overbilled the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, sometimes having multiple attorneys review the same documents and attend the same meetings and court hearings, according to the U.S. Trustee's Office. Though the trustee hasn't yet recommended how much money should be trimmed from the millions in unpaid legal fees that have been accruing since the diocese filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2004, the amount could be significant.
News >  Spokane

Some victims oppose diocese settlement

A $48 million proposed settlement that would end the Catholic Diocese of Spokane bankruptcy doesn't go far enough to expose pedophile priests, a handful of victims said Thursday afternoon. About 190 people have filed bankruptcy claims alleging they were sexually abused by Catholic priests over several decades. The settlement, which was announced in early January, begins to outline how much victims would be paid. It also requires Bishop William Skylstad to publish the names of priests – dead and alive – who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse.

News >  Business

Claim reviewer for bankruptcy agreed on

A former U.S. attorney from Seattle will be hired to scrutinize and put a price on about 140 sex-abuse claims in the Catholic Diocese of Spokane bankruptcy. In court records filed Friday, attorneys working on the case unanimously agreed that Kate Pflaumer should be appointed the "tort claims reviewer." She will be given broad power to establish the truthfulness of sex-abuse claims and how much individual claimants should be paid.
News >  Spokane

Judge praises diocese deal

A $48 million settlement designed to pay victims of clergy sex abuse should help end the Catholic Diocese of Spokane bankruptcy this spring, a federal judge said Friday. "As you well know I was pushing very hard to get this case resolved by this time," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia Williams said during a 90-minute hearing in Spokane. "I am very pleased that the proponents of the plan have managed to negotiate and agree upon the plan's terms."
News >  Spokane

Diocese files settlement

Spokane Catholics will be asked to participate in one of the largest – and most controversial – fundraisers ever attempted in their diocese's history: $10 million to pay lawyers and victims of priest sexual abuse. Unlike past campaigns, they won't have a choice: Failure to raise the money could mean the sale of their churches and schools.
News >  Spokane

Settlements reached in priest abuse suits

SEATTLE – The Jesuit order in the Northwest has settled a lawsuit against the Rev. Michael Toulouse, a priest who taught at Seattle University from about 1950 to 1976, the year he died. The Seattle Archdiocese has also recently reached settlements in some of its priest abuse cases, including three against the Rev. James McGreal, whom the Vatican has permanently barred from ministry.
News >  Spokane

Cowles company to buy diocese chancery

Spokane real estate developer Centennial Properties Inc. agreed to pay $2.05 million for the headquarters of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane. The ornate, white three-story building at 1023 W. Riverside sits across the street from the Masonic Temple and near Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral in downtown Spokane. It houses the offices of Catholic Bishop William Skylstad and his staff.
News >  Spokane

Ninth Seattle priest removed from ministry

SEATTLE – Another priest accused of child sexual abuse has been permanently removed from public ministry by the Vatican, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle said Friday. The decision on Dennis V. Champagne, 61, brings to nine the number of priests from the archdiocese who have been removed from ministry over sex abuse allegations, spokesman Greg Magnoni said.
News >  Spokane

Allegations followed priest

A Gonzaga High School teacher went on to molest at least four more young boys after Jesuit leaders shipped the troubled priest to Seattle University in 1950, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Wednesday. The Rev. Michael Toulouse, who died in 1976, cultivated friendships with Catholic families, and then groomed their sons for sexual abuse even as Jesuit leaders worried about his behavior, according to court filings.