Clergy sexual abuse victims call church’s bankruptcy talk ploy days before new law takes effect

By Kate Amara

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    BALTIMORE (WBAL) — Adult victim-survivors of clergy child sexual abuse called the church’s bankruptcy talk a ploy and urged other survivors to come forward amid a new state law.

At a news conference on Thursday in front of the Baltimore Basilica, adult victim-survivors with the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests called on others to come forward. The group called out the archbishop for refusing to reveal the names of clergy and church officials that are still secret and for threatening to file for Chapter 11.

The archdiocese announced in a letter released earlier in September that church officials were considering filing for bankruptcy.

The news conference comes days before a change in Maryland state law that will remove the statute of limitations on clergy sexual abuse claims by victim-survivors, regardless of their age.

Earlier this year, state lawmakers passed the Child Victims Act, which takes effect Sunday, to remove the statute of limitations on clergy sexual abuse claims, essentially opening the door for adult victim-survivors to file civil lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Legal experts told 11 News this week that a bankruptcy filing would mean a federal judge would set a timeframe for filing lawsuits in sex abuse cases, and it would also put limits on payouts.

“They are trying to rip away the opportunity that was granted to survivors by this, eviscerating the Child Victims Act,” said Frank Schindler, a SNAP member. “They’re trying to make the themselves the victims and the survivors the perpetrators. How hypocritical can anybody get?”

“What the diocese is doing by filing for bankruptcy is effectively short-circuiting the will of the Maryland Legislature and the people of Maryland. That should have a chilling effect, the fact that they are working their way around the will of the people,” said David Lorenz, with Maryland SNAP. “It goes in the face of the fact that they keep claiming, ‘We’re transparent. We’re open and honest about everything.’ And yet, they won’t release the names.”

“Having failed in their attempts to stop the legislation, now, they’re seeking other means to undermine the legislation. This is unconscionable,” Schindler said.

SNAP members said the new law, coupled with the Tuesday release by the Maryland Attorney General’s Office of more unredacted names on its list of alleged abusers, is a game-changer for victim-survivors.

“Please come forward. I can tell you the burden, this will lift from you,” Schindler said.

They’re working to get the word out about the new law, urging victim-survivors to come forward and begin healing, others to report suspected abuse and for parents to talk to their children regardless of age.

Christian Kendzierski, an archdiocesan spokesman, responded late Thursday afternoon to an 11 News request for comment, speaking to the redaction issue, saying that was ordered by the judge. On the civil suits, he wrote: “The archdiocese simply does not have unlimited resources to satisfy such claims” and called “bankruptcy reorganization an equitable method for compensation.”

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