The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester on Friday objected to nearly claims filed by sexual-abuse survivors in its ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a move that could shave tens of millions off any payout it makes in the case. The objections come late in the nearly three-year-old case and long after the claims were first filed. They also come as tensions between survivors and the diocese build as both sides joust over a settlement offer that survivors scorn as too little, too late.
As of July 22, the diocese had filed 97 claim objections. Each of the 97 claim objections cites an affidavit filed by Rochester Diocese chancellor Rev. Daniel Condon. The filing lists various schools, diocese-affiliated organizations and Catholic teaching orders as legally separate entities and maintains that the diocese is not responsible for offenses committed by employees or officials of such unrelated parties.
In New York, parishes, schools and other affiliates of the states Catholic dioceses are legally registered as separate corporations. The bishop of each diocese is named as the head of each parish corporation. Rather than independently litigating hundreds of claims against diocesan affiliates, James says survivors are seeking to reach a global settlement in the bankruptcy in which such related parties would contribute along with the diocese and its liability carriers.
The law opened a roughly two-year window in which adults who suffered abuse decades ago as children but failed to file a claim within the seven-year statute of limitations could seek damages from their alleged abusers. The diocese currently faces claims by sex-abuse survivors in the Chapter Rochester Diocese parishes and other church affiliates in the diocese are fighting some separately filed sex-abuse claims in area state courts. The Rochester Bankruptcy Court has set a Jan.
It has filed objections to the settlement, complaining that it is financially inadequate and was arrived at in negotiations between the diocese and its liability carriers with no input from survivors.
