Archdiocese of Baltimore, survivors pledge cooperation through bankruptcy process

By David Collins

Click here for updates on this story

    BALTIMORE, Maryland (WBAL) — The Archdiocese of Baltimore and abuse survivors are pledging cooperation through the bankruptcy process; however, some survivors feel left out of the process.

The archdiocese announced in September that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy following numerous claims of child sex abuse by priests.

“Even though this process is tied to Chapter 11, it does not end the moral responsibility of the archdiocese to respond compassionately to those who have been harmed,” Baltimore Archbishop William Lori said.

The archbishop was joined Monday morning by Paul Jan Zdunek, who chairs the Creditors’ Committee of Survivors, for a news conference to say the archdiocese is working on procedures, mediation and prevention when it comes to abuse of children.

“We share the same goal of creating an environment, one that is rooted in mutual trust, one that will enable us to work together constructively to come to an agreed-upon plan,” Lori said.

“We work with our attorneys to make sure the bankruptcy is fair for survivors and the outcome is as meaningful as possible,” Zdunek said. “We are also here to make sure survivors are paid fairly and children, most importantly, are protected going forward.”

Claims of abuse, which were due by May 31, are still being examined, but the committee and archdiocese have come to an agreement on a process to determine the final tally.

“This is much more complicated than it seems on the surface because we have duplicate claims, we have vague claims that were filed, so we have to sort through all that to make sure that the number we put out there, of course as you know, will stick,” Zdunek said.

“It’s not just a number. It represents so many people who have been harmed. It represents so many people who have experienced really terrible things in their lives, stories of abuse, misuse of power, stories of how the most innocent have been harmed,” Lori said.

The next steps will involve a mediation process. Decisions to be made include how much compensation each survivor will receive. Once that is determined, the information will be sent to survivors and then back to court for final approval. The committee and archdiocese will work together to come up with child sex abuse prevention policies and protocols.

“I continue to offer my heartfelt apology to you Mr. Chairman, the committee and to all of the survivors for what you have endured,” Lori said.

There is also an issue of insurance claims. The status of that and the bankruptcy case itself is expected to be provided to the court on July 22.

Monday’s news conference came as a surprise to many survivors, as one survivor organization issued a statement, calling the diocese the proverbial “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

In a lengthy statement, David Lorenz, the Maryland director of the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests, holds Lori in contempt, writing:

“The press conference today involving Paul Zdunek and the Archdiocese of Baltimore came as a surprise to many survivors and the survivor organization. We respect the fact that Paul, as lead for the Creditor’s Committee, has every right to hold a private press conference. Indeed, he may find the need for such an event. He has been granted the authority by the bankruptcy to engage with the diocese. “However, we in the survivor community, and as members of SNAP, have seen firsthand how the diocese has obfuscated facts and misled the public in its pronouncements. While Archbishop Lori may not have been in Baltimore during many of the abuse cases before him, he was bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut, when abuse happened in that diocese. He was in Baltimore when the Catholic Church vehemently resisted passage of the Child Victim’s Act (CVA) and sent misleading information to legislators. When the investigative docuseries ‘The Keepers’ was about to be released, the diocese dismissed it as ‘fiction’ but then later quietly admitted that there were no inaccuracies in the series.

“Archbishop Lori has been in Baltimore for more than 12 years. During that time, never once did the archbishop attempt to identify the more than 40 abusers that were uncovered by the attorney general’s report that was released just last year. In fact, the archdiocese refused to release the names of the redacted abusers and enablers contained in that report. They falsely claimed that they were prohibited, by law, from releasing those 15 names. The attorney general himself stated that the diocese could release the names and they were not bound by the law that prohibited the AG from releasing them. “Working closely with the survivor community and having to routinely deal with the inaccuracies, the stonewalling and the misleading statements coming from the diocese has given us a unique perspective on the workings of the diocese. With no disrespect to Paul or the Creditor’s Committee, we believe that the diocese is the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing. We hold Archbishop Lori responsible for retraumatizing survivors by resisting the CVA and then declaring bankruptcy even before the law went into effect. Even now, Lori is behind the effort to have the CVA ruled unconstitutional.”

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.