Chávez view
In op-ed, Martin Chávez says Archdiocese is shielding assets
Ex-mayor says church avoiding responsibility with filing
A former three-term Albuquerque mayor is blasting the Archdiocese of Santa Fe’s decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying that it’s “simply a way of avoiding responsibility and is just one part of a continuing cover-up by the archdiocese.” “We now know that the archdiocese was substantially aware for years that its priests were raping children and that it did little or nothing to rectify it,” former mayor Martin Chávez wrote in an op-ed published in today’s Journal.
This week’s bankruptcy reorganization filing comes amid mounting litigation alleging decades of child sexual abuse at the hands of clergy. The archdiocese says it has settled nearly 300 of those claims. The number of pending abuse cases listed in the filing is 36.
The filing halts the pending civil lawsuits, but victims who have filed claims will continue to be represented by attorneys in the bankruptcy action.
In an email, Archbishop John C. Wester disputed Chávez’s assertions, saying the reorganization is the exact opposite of what the former mayor is alleging.
“To the contrary, bankruptcy law requires nothing less than that the archdiocese to take full responsibility for its obligation to the survivors, and fulfilling this commitment of being fully accountable to the survivors was the primary reason for seeking reorganization,” Wester said.
In announcing the plan to file for Chapter 11, Wester said the archdiocese was doing it to ensure that all claims of child abuse survivors, including those who come forward in the future, can be settled “fairly and
equitably.”
The archdiocese, the largest diocese in New Mexico, is the second of the state’s three Catholic dioceses to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Nearly two years ago, the Diocese of Gallup concluded its Chapter 11 reorganization case in which more than $17.6 million was paid to claimants.
“This bankruptcy, as has been the case with all diocese and archdiocese bankruptcies, will be a public process,” Wester told the Journal this week. “The abuse survivors will be represented by experienced expert bankruptcy counsel, the fees for whom will be an obligation of the archdiocese.”
Wester has estimated that “millions of dollars” in claims have been paid by the archdiocese, through its insurance carriers and from reserve funds.
Some U.S. dioceses involved in bankruptcy protection cases have been accused of shielding assets by transferring money and property into a variety of trusts.
In his opinion piece, Chávez is alleging the same, writing that incorporating parishes allows the archdiocese to “cover it up and shield itself from the justice afforded victims through the courts.”
Deeds filed with the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office show that the archdiocese has transferred many of its Bernalillo County parishes and real properties into a trust controlled by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe Real Estate Corp. State records show that the archdiocese incorporated most of its 92 parishes as nonprofits in 2012 and 2013.
Chávez also states that although “it is one of the wealthiest corporate entities in New Mexico and pays no taxes, the archdiocese cries poverty as an excuse to avoid responsibility, some arguing that the Church will have to close its doors.”
Wester said all of the assets and finances of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe are contained in the bankruptcy schedules and other documents that have been filed in the bankruptcy court, and all operations of the archdiocese have been and will continue to be fully transparent.
The archbishop also noted that Brad Hall, the Albuquerque attorney whose law firm has represented more than 100 victims of clergy sexual abuse in the past five years, lauded the archdiocese’s decision to file for bankruptcy reorganization.
“We believe that all survivors of clergy sexual abuse in New Mexico will be helped in the bankruptcy system to obtain closure and transparency,” he said last week in a news release.