Washington clergy abuse settlement gets 1st OK

SPOKANE, Wash. “The Spokane Catholic Diocese has agreed to pay at least $48 million to people molested by priests as a part of a deal to emerge from bankruptcy, a federal mediator announced Thursday.

Federal Bankruptcy Judge Gregg Zive in Reno, Nev., said the settlement would provide survivors "with some measure of closure and allow them to move forward and continue the healing process."

The proposed reorganization plan was filed in federal bankruptcy court in Spokane. It still must be approved by victims and another bankruptcy judge.

Church spokesman Eric Meisfjord said the diocese had no immediate comment.

The settlement would be financed by $20 million from six insurance carriers; another $18 million from the sale of the bishop's office building and other assets and contributions from Catholic entities; and $10 million from the diocese's 82 parishes, Zive said.

The number of victims who would be covered by the settlement was not immediately clear. About 150 individual claims were filed against the diocese as part of the bankruptcy, although not all of those chose to sue.

The diocese filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004, citing claims by abuse victims of about $81.3 million against assets of about $11million.

The settlement requires Spokane Bishop William Skylstad to publicly support eliminating statutes of limitations on child sex crimes and to personally visit each parish where children were abused to urge parishioners to come forward with reports of abuse, according to court documents.

Skylstad must also send letters of apology to victims or their immediate families; publish the names of all known abusers; allow victims to publicly address the parishes where they were sexually abused; and to publish their stories in the diocesan newspaper.

Mike Ross, an officer of the Spokane chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, a national organization of clergy abuse victims, said victims were "not thrilled with this deal. "Many of them" will never see their day in court and that's truly what they wanted," Ross said.