It’s unclear how much money individual parishes will have to pay to help settle clergy sex abuse lawsuits against the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
That detail came from testimony during the second day of the archdiocese’s bankruptcy trial.
The testimony came on the same day the Archdiocese of New Orleans held a Mass welcoming Coadjutor Archbishop James Checchio as its next leader.
The archdiocese is in transition. Checchio will fully assume the role only after current Archbishop Gregory Aymond’s retirement.
Aymond has stated his retirement hinges on the archdiocese bankruptcy being finalized. The case is now more than five years old and shifted into a trial phase this week.
Father Patrick Carr took the stand Tuesday. Carr is a certified public accountant and a local pastor. But perhaps more relevant to the trial, Carr is also the vicar of finance for the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
In that role, Carr testified he represents the archbishop in certain financial matters.
On the witness stand, Carr said the archdiocese is operating on “very thin capital.”
Carr also said the roughly $65 million the archdiocese would have to pay into a $230 million fund to settle clergy sex abuse lawsuits would render the archdiocese “insolvent.”
The settlement plan calls for about $60 million to come from individual parishes and churches, with the remainder coming from insurance companies and the sale of archdiocese property. When asked how much parishes will have to pay into that fund, Carr said “nobody knows yet.”
Citing a “vow of obedience” embedded in the parish services agreement, which all parishes enter into with the archdiocese and the archbishop, Carr said individual parishes won’t have much choice in paying into the survivor fund.
An attorney representing 82 claimants in the case says the archdiocese has long been murky in detailing its finances and has relied on its churches as sources of money.
“What the archdiocese has been doing since time immemorial was robbing Peter to pay Paul. So, you have some churches that are struggling or just failing and not making enough money. You also have some superstar parishes who do spectacularly well,” said Soren Gisleson, an attorney for a group of claimants known as certain survivors of clergy sex abuse.
Despite testifying about the financial pressure the settlement would place on the archdiocese, Carr stated he is confident the archdiocese will be able to produce the money for the settlement.
More witnesses will testify this week.
Archbishop Gregory Aymond is scheduled to take the stand Thursday.