It may take until October to find out what kind of files the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland keeps on priests accused of sexual abuse. A federal bankruptcy judge said Thursday she is inclined to agree with an attorney for abuse victims, who argued against sending church documents to another judge to act as a "special master" to resolve a dispute over their public release.
But U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris said she will give both sides until the end of August to argue the case. She scheduled a hearing Sept. 30 to decide whether to lift her protective order sealing the documents.
The archdiocese promised to release documents and files last April when it announced a $50 million settlement to end the first bankruptcy ever declared by a Catholic diocese.
The mediator in the case said at the time that he expected the documents to be released within a month or two.
But negotiations over the release fell apart.
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