Accusers with unresolved clergy misconduct lawsuits are trying to stop the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese from paying monthly pensions to two unidentified priests who the church acknowledges face credible allegations of sexual abuse.
A committee representing more than 30 people with pending civil cases discovered the retirement benefits when the state’s largest religious denomination filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court after spending $34 million on past settlements.
“The survivors here should not have to see money going to pay individuals who are part of the reason the diocese is in this bankruptcy,” committee counsel Brittany Michael said at a March 25 online court hearing.
In response, diocesan leaders argue they can’t withhold the funds — a collective monthly total of $3,900, according to records — because they belong to the clergy.
“They are property of these priests,” Samuel Andre, one of the church’s lawyers, told the court. “The diocese is just required to administer those benefits.”
With the matter of who owns what yet to be legally determined, Burlington-based Judge Heather Cooper is questioning whether priests who are denied pensions could become unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy case if they sue for nonpayment.
“I am reluctant to move forward,” Cooper said of making any decision before attorneys try to resolve their differences by an April 4 deadline for filing claims. “These are some complicated issues, and they have some ramifications that could be unintended.”
The diocese, having settled 67 lawsuits in the past two decades alleging priest misconduct as far back as 1950, is the nation’s40th Catholic entity to seek court help reorganizing its depleting finances, it notes on an explainer page on its website.
As part of the bankruptcy process, the diocese must receive court permission to pay any bill. It asked to continue supporting the two priests after consulting with the Holy See, the Vatican-based governing body for the global Catholic Church.
“The diocese was advised that it needed to continue those payments,” Andre told the court.
The clergy involved aren’t identified. But one church filing notes the “two credibly accused priests” are retired, “are not involved in active ministry” and “do not receive any other compensation from the diocese.”
The Holy See, consulting its own canon law, determined the priests could not be stripped of their titles or benefits, the filing said without further explanation.
“While the diocese agrees that the accusations against the priests are credible, the priests have otherwise not been criminally charged or been the subject of civil or criminal judgments related to the allegations of sexual abuse,” the filing concluded, without saying if the unnamed clergy are facing pending lawsuits.