Santa Fe Archdiocese Files for Bankruptcy
In December of 2018, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. According to the website United States Courts, this filing allows an entity to stay in business and pay creditors over time, as opposed to total liquidation.
This filing occurred as a result of the civil litigation the church has been dealing with to address decades of sexual abuse of minors by the clergy and the failure of church officials to properly deal with these cases of abuse.
According to The Albuquerque Journal, shortly before the Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy, figures suggest almost 300 cases of sexual abuse of minors by clergy members had been brought against the Archdiocese. The Santa Fe Archdiocese has already spent $50 million to settle sex abuse claims.
The Archdiocese is the second diocese, of the three in the state, to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. In 2016 the Gallup diocese filed for Chapter 11 and paid more than $17 million to abuse victims. The only diocese that has yet to file is the Las Cruces diocese.
During the course of the suit, Santa Fe Archbishop John C. Wester agreed to disclose information on priests who have been credibly accused, according to The Albuquerque Journal. The chairman in the bankruptcy proceedings requested that the documents be publicized, with the names redacted. The chairman also agreed to check if the Archdiocese could release the redacted personnel files of the 79 priests that have been credibly accused.
“Credibly accused” is defined as an “allegation that could have reasonably occurred,” according to the FAQ section of the Archdiocese website. The “Archdiocese of Santa Fe List of Priests, Deacons, Religious, and Seminarians Accused of Sexual Abuse of Children” was created by the IRB board, a consultative body to the archbishop that investigates claims of abuse and determines whether they are credible.
The list of credibly accused clergy was originally made public in 2017. It includes the names of clergy who have worked in the diocese of Santa Fe and have been found guilty of sexually abusing a child; the names of clergy who have been laicized, or removed from a position of power in the church, after being accused of sexually abusing a minor; the names of clergy who had been laicized before accusations came forward; and the names of clergy who were publicly accused of sexually abusing a child, but whose criminal or canonical proceedings were never completed.
The ten-page list also includes the parishes where the clergy members worked and the years they worked there. But there is no information about the claims made against them or what came of the proceedings. The list is also subject to change if new clergy members are credibly accused.
Additional information about how the list is compiled can be found on the website of the Santa Fe Archdiocese. The updated and official list of the credibly accused can be found Here .
The case also prompted U.S. bankruptcy judge David T. Thurma to approve the deadline of June 17, 2019, for victims to file claims against members of the Catholic Church in the Santa Fe Archdiocese. According to The Albuquerque Journal, Judge Thurman allowed this because it will allow the Church to understand the gravity of the claims asserted against them and pursue proper planning for victims to receive adequate compensation.