Spokane Diocese Bankruptcy

Spokane Catholic Diocese attorneys have been calling people who claim they were victims of clergy sexual abuse and asking what they want: cash, counseling, an apology, or something else. The effort has upset some victims and attorneys, who say some of the questions asked are inappropriate and intimidating. Perhaps more importantly, they worry that the diocese is pushing lowball settlement offers – some in the range of $5,000 to $10,000 – at a time when Bishop William Skylstad has offered other victims an average of more than a half-million dollars each.

An insurance company will pay the Spokane Catholic Diocese $6 million to help settle claims of sexual abuse by priests. The diocese settlement with Oregon Auto Insurance Co. is the fourth such agreement, which together have raised $16 million so far. Two other insurance carriers have yet to settle coverage disputes with the diocese.

The Catholic Diocese of Spokane has retained Keen Realty, a Great Neck, N.Y., company that specializes in representing companies in bankruptcy or other financial troubles, to sell its historic Catholic Pastoral Center downtown, as well as two vacant parcels near Spokane. The Pastoral Center, also known as the Chancery, is among $11 million in assets the diocese claimed when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2004, listing more than $81 million in claims. The diocese sought bankruptcy protection in advance of court trials over claims of clergy sexual abuse.

A federal bankruptcy judge urged mediation to settle all sex abuse claims against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, after rejecting a $45.7 million offer that would have settled fewer than half the cases.

A federal judge said Monday the public has a right to view versions of sensitive records in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane bankruptcy case. The Spokesman-Review asked U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Patricia Williams to allow the newspaper and other members of the public to review and track the cases of some 175 people who allege they were sexually abused by priests and other clergy.

An alternate plan to end the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane bankruptcy case asks parishes to hand over more than half their value in return for avoiding possible foreclosures on churches and schools. The proposal filed Monday would require most parishes to pay the equivalent of 65 percent of their fair market appraised value to fund sex-abuse claims against the diocese. The exception would be small parishes and those in rural areas that would be asked to raise the lesser of 65 percent or $100,000.

Throughout its history, the Roman Catholic Church has engaged in secrecy to prevent scandal, asserted the Rev. Thomas Doyle, a Dominican priest and canon lawyer who shed light on the clergy sex abuse problem in the mid-'80s – before it blew up into a crisis. "The policy of the Catholic Church in regards to sexual abuse is to maintain as much secrecy as possible," Doyle said during a phone interview from his home in northern Virginia. "There may be less secrecy today but only because the church was forced to be more open and transparent."

The Spokesman-Review is seeking a federal bankruptcy judge's approval to obtain copies of sexual abuse claims filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane – some of which might name priests who are still active in the clergy. The newspaper has formally objected to a diocese motion to seal court records in the case and proposed a compromise to view versions of the claims in which the names of sexual abuse victims have been deleted. Such copies have already been made available to attorneys and others working on the case.

Like others who have been sexually abused as children, Brynne Malone knows the deepest depths of depression – that dark lonely place where death seems like the only remedy for pain. He blames his sleepless nights, days pervaded with anxiety, and sudden, inexplicable fits of tears on his suffering at the hands of Patrick O'Donnell, a serial pedophile and former Roman Catholic priest. Malone says the impact includes two failed marriages, frequent ulcers, anger management issues, and a feeling of loss and betrayal.