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	Appraisal: Catholic Buildings in Vermont Worth $405M By Sam Hemingway Burlington Free Press May 23, 2006 http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060523/NEWS01/605230311/1009&theme= The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington has structural assets in Vermont worth more than $405 million, according to an insurance appraisal of church-owned buildings performed for the diocese. The appraisal indicates that 52 of the 128 diocesan parishes in the state have church facilities valued at more than $1 million apiece. Burlington, the home base of the diocese, has church-owned buildings worth $62.8 million. A copy of the appraisal was obtained by The Burlington Free Press from court records collected in anticipation of the trial in the first of 19 cases pending in Chittenden Superior Court involving claims by alleged victims of priest sexual abuse. The appraisal was conducted in 2004 by Gallagher Bassett Services Inc. of Itasca, Ill. The appraisal was conducted to determine the replacement cost of each of the 610 buildings the church owns in the state. The figures do not include the value of the land on which the buildings sit. The question of what church property is worth has emerged as an issue since the diocese last month agreed to settle the initial priest abuse case by paying $965,000 to Michael Gay of South Burlington. Gay claimed that as an altar boy in 1978 he was molested repeatedly by the Rev. Edward Paquette at Christ the King Church in Burlington. After settling the case with Gay, the diocese announced it would take out a loan to pay the $965,000. This month, Bishop Salvatore Matano disclosed he had placed the diocese's 128 churches in separate charitable trusts "in order to protect the vested interests of our parishes." Jerome O'Neill, the attorney representing the alleged victims in the 19 cases, said last week Matano's attempt to shield assets from the ongoing litigation was a "fraudulent conveyance" and vowed to challenge the move. After Matano announced the creation of the trusts, church lawyers said the diocese had ample real estate holdings and would not have a problem handling the potential cost of resolving the remaining priest sex abuse cases it faces. The diocese also has sued in court to require a former insurer to cover the costs of the settlement in the Gay case, and possibly others from the same, late 1970s period. So far, the diocese has not been able to locate a copy of the insurance policy, however. According to the appraisal, the structure housing the diocesan headquarters on North Avenue in Burlington is valued at $11,553,120. Half of the building, once the home of St. Joseph's Orphanage, contains office space; the other half is unused. The appraisal attached replacement values to all kinds of church-owned buildings, including church rectories, schools, recreational facilities, homes for the aged and maintenance facilities. The single church-owned structure with the highest value was Mount St. Joseph's Academy in Rutland, worth $16,136,400.The building with the lowest value was a shed in Johnson and a maintenance garage in Poultney, each worth $1,190. Church values Church buildings with the highest replacement value, according to an insurance appraisal of church-owned buildings performed for the diocese. The list does not include buildings at St. Michael's College in Colchester and College of St. Joseph in Rutland, which are not church properties: -- 1. Mount St. Joseph's Academy, Rutland, $16,136,400 -- 2. St. Joseph's Co-Cathedral, Burlington, $11,852,570 -- 3. Bishop Brady Center (diocesan offices and orphanage), Burlington, $11,553,120 -- 4. Rice Memorial High School, South Burlington, $11,461,590. -- 5. St. Augustine Church, Montpelier, $9,559,800 -- 6. St. Mary Star of the Sea Church, Newport, $7,012,780 -- 7. St. Joseph's Parish School, Burlington, $7,003,740 -- 8. Christ the King School, Rutland, $6,647,790 -- 9. St. Peter's Church, Rutland, $6,219,520 -- 10. St. Monica's School, Barre, $6,042,110
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