"In a motion filed this week, the diocese said its latest proposal to pay $165 million over five years to settle roughly 350 claims of alleged abuse drew hardly a response from the victims' attorneys, and neither did several previous offers. A local division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court may decide next month whether to allow the church to pull the plug on its Chapter 11 proceedings, which Diocese attorneys said have become expensive because their creditors have effectively bled (the church) dry."
"Victims' attorneys had previously derided the church's bankruptcy declaration, as well as its subsequent efforts to set up a financial trust for paying out settlements, accusing diocese leaders of trying to shrink the dollar amount owed to each survivor. But the alternative would entail that each accuser has to separately litigate their claim of abuse in the Alameda County Superior Court, a lengthy process that attorneys said could wear out their clients' resolve."
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland filed to end its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, offering $165 million over five years to settle about 350 alleged-abuse claims. Diocese attorneys say bankruptcy has become prohibitively expensive as creditors have depleted church resources and a local bankruptcy court may rule next month on the request to terminate proceedings. Victims' attorneys criticized the bankruptcy and trust proposals as attempts to reduce individual recoveries and noted that abandoning bankruptcy would force separate, lengthy trials in Alameda County Superior Court. Some victim advocates accuse the diocese of stalling and failing to liquidate assets for settlements.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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