New Orleans clergy abuse survivors approve archdiocese's $230M bankruptcy settlement

quote:

---

Clergy sex abuse survivors overwhelmingly approved a $230 million bankruptcy settlement with the Archdiocese of New Orleans, potentially clearing the way for the local Roman Catholic church's long-running case to be resolved by the end of the year.

According to court documents filed Thursday, 99.6% of all creditors in the case who submitted ballots during a six-week voting period, which ended Wednesday, voted in favor of the settlement.

Those creditors are divided into several groups or "classes": more than 650 abuse survivors, vendors and small businesses, and bondholders owed some $30 million by the archdiocese.

While the abuse survivors and trade creditors overwhelmingly cleared that bar, the bondholders voted against the plan, court documents show.

The move that was not unexpected, and bondholder attorneys have argued for months that the proposed settlement, which initially would have paid them $3 million of the $30 million owed, was unfair.

Court documents filed Thursday show an updated version of the settlement is now offering to pay them $7.2 million over 12 years.

---