The Diocese of Alexandria is moving to conduct a “mediated resolution” with victims of alleged sexual abuse by priests prior to filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy – a scenario that may offer both benefits and challenges for abuse victims, according to observers.
The diocese has previously acknowledged that 27 of its priests were accused of sexual misconduct and abuse of minors. The mediation plans were detailed in a Sept. 24 letter from the law firm Gold Weems Bruser Sues & Rundell, according to a report from the Catholic News Agency.
The Diocese of Alexandria’s plans follow a different pattern than the New Orleans archdiocese, whose petition for bankruptcy protection in May 2020 surprised abuse victims in that region. The letter obtained by the Catholic News Agency indicates that the Alexandria diocese wants to move forward in a way that would avoid the slow pace and high litigation costs incurred by the archdiocese.
“The diocese’s goal is to negotiate a global resolution with all claimants which would then be filed as a prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy,” the letter states.
Those monitoring the process have differing perspectives on whether the Diocese of Alexandria’s legal strategy would benefit the parties involved.
“Bankruptcy would be expensive for the diocese,” Adam Horowitz, an attorney for several people with abuse claims against the diocese, told the Louisiana Record in an email. “Every dollar they spend on legal fees is less money that could be paid to the abuse survivors. If there is an opportunity to avoid bankruptcy, that is in everyone’s best interest.”
Horowitz, however, said the diocese has yet to provide adequate transparency about its financial assets. He said he could not comment on any pending mediation discussions among the parties.
Melanie Sakoda, survivor support director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said efforts to get a resolution to abuse victims’ claims in a timely manner would be a positive development.
“The mediated resolution, if it really does help with the delay of settling these claims, is beneficial to survivors because some of these cases are going to be really old, and the longer you wait, the more likely it is that some of the survivors will pass away,” Sakoda told the Record.
But she said two key problems will remain if the diocese eventually does seek bankruptcy protection. First, a bankruptcy provides a defined time period when additional claimants can come forward. “After that time period passes, no one who was abused before the date of the bankruptcy filing will be able to file claims,” Sakoda said.
A second problem is that under bankruptcy proceedings, there is no guarantee that the records of those who enabled and protected the abusers would become public, she said.
The diocese’s actions come in the wake of the Louisiana Supreme Court upholding a new state law allowing people who were sexually abused as children to have a window of time to file a civil lawsuit to punish individuals or institutions involved in such acts of abuse, even if the acts occurred several decades ago.
SNAP members have indicated that the diocese has not disclosed all of the names of priests accused of sexual abuse. At an Oct. 7 press conference in Alexandria, the group alleged that four priests who served in the Alexandria parish and were “credibly accused” of abuse were not on the diocese’s “accused” list.