Lawyers: No big complications to reach Santa Fe archdiocese sex abuse settlement

The Santa Fe New Mexican - 6/15/2022

Jun. 15—An official settlement plan in the Archdiocese of

Santa Fe's bankruptcy remains to be completed, but there are no serious complications, attorneys said Tuesday.

Archdiocese attorney Thomas Walker told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Thuma he had hoped to have the Chapter 11 reorganization plan drawn up Wednesday for the bankruptcy case prompted by clergy sexual abuse of at least 375 people. Some details, however, still must be worked out, he said.

"But we hope to [have it] shortly," Walker said.

Neither Walker, Thuma nor other attorneys involved in Tuesday's conference suggested there were any problems. Attorneys told Thuma last month they had agreed on a $121.5 million settlement among the archdiocese, insurance companies and the accusers, most of whose allegations date to their childhoods.

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2018. Several insurance companies had balked over elements of their contracts with the archdiocese but reached a resolution by mid-May. The insurers' payouts are vital to a settlement.

"They're onboard on the amount they're going to pay," Brad Hall, an Albuquerque attorney who, with some other lawyers, represents about

140 accusers, said in an interview.

A majority of accusers still must vote to approve the plan. The vote is expected to take place in late summer or early fall, and money could be distributed by October, attorneys said last month.

A third-party expert would determine how the money would be divided among the accusers — evenly, for instance, or by duration and severity of the abuse.

Daniel Fasy, a Seattle attorney representing numerous accusers, said the delay in producing an official plan was no reason for alarm.

"As far as I know, there's nothing problematic with that," Fasy said in a phone interview. "It all sounded like I expected."

Clarity emerged Tuesday in the role, if there is any, of third-party religious orders such as the Servants of the Paraclete. That order of priests ran a rest and rehabilitation center in Jemez Springs for emotionally disturbed, alcoholic and exhausted priests beginning in 1947.

Eventually, the center became a place for many pedophile priests, some who eventually worked at New Mexico parishes and molested more children.

Walker said third-party religious orders could join the bankruptcy plan, but the money they would contribute would be on top of the $121.5 million. "They need to get on quickly," Walker said. "And if they can't, they can't."

Hall said the participation of third-party religious orders isn't vital. "If they don't, that's fine, then we'll still settle the case with the archdiocese." Those religious orders could be sued separately, he said.

The Servants of the Paraclete have left Jemez Springs but have a presence in Missouri and other places. Hall said several other religious orders could be involved in the bankruptcy case, including the Sons of the Holy Family and the Basilians.

Walker said Tuesday his aim now is to have a plan by the end of the month, and Thuma scheduled another conference for June 30. Thuma said he was satisfied that "you guys are working hard."

"It's in pretty good shape," Walker said of the plan. "But there's still a lot of work to do, and we're on it."

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