April 2, 2024
Dear Friends,
I hope you had a fruitful Lent and a Blessed Easter. I wish to update you on the status of the Diocesan reorganization case. The Diocese continues to carry on our mission in the ordinary course. Parishes also continue their programs and activities.
As you know, all State court lawsuits against the diocese, parishes, schools and other Catholic entities are stayed. This gives us the opportunity to settle the lawsuits on a global basis. As I previously reported to you, the bankruptcy judge has ordered that all contested issues, including the CVA lawsuits pending, be resolved through mediations.
Judge Christopher Sontchi has been appointed mediator, due to the withdrawal of Judge Zive for personal reasons. We met with Judge Sontchi on February 20, 2024 to deal with preliminary matters. Mediations will resume April 9th and 10th. The bar date has past, we are currently facing 123 unique claims of abuse. In our negotiations we desire to fairly compensate survivors of abuse and to continue our mission as a diocese. We ask you to pray for timely and fair compensation to survivors and our continued ministry to the people of the North Country.
Our attorneys have worked hard to get us to the negotiation table. Their work has brought all the necessary parties into the negotiations, including the diocese, parishes, schools, other Catholic entities, and our insurers. Although parishes, schools and other Catholic entities are not part of the reorganization case directly, they will be required to contribute to the settlement with the abuse survivors. Our resolution with abuse survivors will include settlement of CVA lawsuits faced by the parish, schools and other Catholic entities and afford them protection against liability for any claims that exist prior to the filing of the reorganization case.
I again ask your prayers as we draw closer to a just and expeditious resolution of all these matters. We are committed to compensating victims of sexual abuse. We need to keep them uppermost in our thoughts and prayers. As you know, we will celebrate a special Healing Mass at St. Mary's Church in Potsdam on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 7th at 2:30pm. We are also committed to continuing our mission as a diocese and meeting the needs of our people throughout the North Country. Thank you for your prayerful support. May God bless you, I am
Faithfully yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Terry R. LaValley
Bishop of Ogdensburg
Chapter 11 reorganization is an action undertaken voluntarily by an entity to allow it to reorganize financially. The goal of reorganization is to respond to the claims of creditors and to emerge with its operations intact so the diocese can continue its mission. Reorganization immediately stops all efforts to collect debts and all legal actions against the entity. Chapter 11 does not mean the Diocese is going out of business or is insolvent.
As a result of the New York State Child Victim Act, the Diocese is currently facing 124 claims of sexual abuse of a minor, all dating back decades. Litigation costs and settlements would likely exceed many millions of dollars. The Diocese simply does not have the resources to settle or litigate these claims.
The Diocese would face 124 civil actions, which would require years of court involvement. Claimants who resolve their claims first would receive all funds available to pay survivors. As a result, later claimants would receive little or nothing. Most importantly, these lengthy proceedings would delay justice for victims, prolonging their pain and suffering.
Without reorganization, the Diocese would continue to face multiple civil actions; a slow, unpredictable, time consuming and costly process that would require years of court involvement. Most significantly, such lengthy lawsuits would delay justice for the survivors and only prolong their pain and suffering. In reorganization, all claims are resolved in one court where all survivors’ claims can be heard and be given due consideration while allowing the Diocese to continue to fulfill its day-to-day ministries to the people of Northern New York.
As part of our ministry, the Diocese desires to respond to the claims of survivors in a way that acknowledges their suffering and helps them find some sense of peace. Reorganization ensures survivors are treated fairly. Without such a filing, large awards or settlements for cases that move through the legal system early could exhaust available resources and leave little or nothing for survivors whose cases move through the legal system later. Reorganization is fairer to all.
It is our sincere hope and prayer that the process to resolve claims will have minimal effect on the celebration of sacraments and regular parish life. Some parishes have been directly sued under the CVA, and that does create the potential for some parish liability. While we hope to keep parish involvement to a minimum, it is likely all parishes will be asked to contribute to funds which will be available to address survivors’ claims.
Some schools also have been sued under the CVA. Therefore, there is a potential for liability for such schools. However, we hope to resolve claims against the schools and parishes through the framework of the Diocese’s reorganization plan. It is our sincere hope that this process will have minimal impact on the operation of Catholic schools in the diocese.
Chapter 11 does not mean that the Diocese of Ogdensburg has run out of money or will cease operations. We remain committed to ensuring we can continue to provide the sacraments and essential ministries. We expect that we can continue our ministries and operations while the reorganization case is pending and successfully emerge from reorganization as a stronger, even more vibrant organization.
Hiding information about abuse cases is not the purpose of reorganization. In a reorganization case, victims, their attorneys, and the court will be able to review documents and information relating to their claims, just like they could outside of reorganization. Documents and information related to claims will be available to victims and their legal teams.
138 CVA lawsuits were filed against the diocese following the August 2019 implementation of the Child Victims Act (CVA) in New York State. Over the last three years, 14 of the claims have been resolved by settlement or dismissal. The CVA allowed individuals who claim they are survivors of sexual abuse to file lawsuits against their abusers and their abusers’ employers regardless of when the alleged abuse took place.
Specific dollar figures are not cited in the claims. In the reorganization case, each case is evaluated independently, and a determination is made of how much will be awarded to each survivor. We remain committed to ensuring all survivors are treated justly.
