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  Archdiocese Reveals Plan Today

By Steve Woodward
The Oregonian [Portland OR]
November 16, 2005

The Archdiocese of Portland's long-awaited, much-anticipated plan for emerging from its 16-month-old bankruptcy will be made public today.

A late Tuesday afternoon filing just met the deadline imposed by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth L. Perris, who had already granted a year's worth of extensions.

Lawyers involved in the bankruptcy have said they expect the archdiocese's plan to offer a settlement fund of at least $20 million to pay more than 200 pending child sexual-abuse claims. The number of claims may continue to decrease as the archdiocese challenges the validity of nearly 100 claims, 30 of which have been thrown out by the court.

The remaining sex-abuse claims amount to at least $150 million, according to documents filed in bankruptcy court.

The archdiocese has until Jan. 16 to persuade creditors -- mostly men and women who are seeking compensation for alleged child molestation by priests -- to approve its plan. Under federal bankruptcy law, the archdiocese must get the approval of at least half the claimants. In addition, the claimants who vote yes must represent more than two-thirds of the total dollar amount of the claims.

If the archdiocese fails to win approval, other parties in the bankruptcy are free to offer competing plans.

Some plaintiffs already are expressing their doubts about the plan.

"I just think they're morally bankrupt at this point," said Tom Ryan, who settled a claim involving the Rev. Thomas Laughlin but still has one pending involving the Rev. Rocco Perrone.

"All they have to do is settle it."

Archdiocese spokesman Bud Bunce replied: "I fail to understand how they can criticize a plan they have not read."

In August and September, the archdiocese used court-appointed mediators to try to settle 60 to 70 claims, including Ryan's. Sixteen claimants reached agreement on dollar amounts, but sparring over other details resulted in no signed agreements. The archdiocese and a court-appointed claims estimator had hoped to use settlement figures from the mediations to estimate the value of pending claims, as well as claims that might be filed in the future.

Despite the collapse of the settlement talks, the reorganization plan is expected to contain a formula for calculating claims.

One of the still-unanswered questions centers on the value of the archdiocese's assets. The Roman Catholic Church holds $400 million to $500 million in real estate and $100 million in cash and investments in Western Oregon, but a separate legal battle is under way in bankruptcy court to determine whether that property belongs to the archdiocese or to the individual parishes and parishioners.

If the property is found to belong to the archdiocese, those assets would become available to pay off sex-abuse claims.

This month, the archdiocese and the abuse plaintiffs filed their respective written arguments in the case, setting the stage for a tug-of-war between church law and civil law. Perris will hear oral arguments Dec. 5 and is expected to issue a ruling in January.