The steeple of St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Pittsford. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerSeeking “full disclosure and transparency,” claimants with unresolved clergy sexual misconduct lawsuits against the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese have asked a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge to order the ch urch to detail local assets that so far aren’t part of the proceedings.The state’s largest religious denomination, which filed for Chapter 11 protection last fall in hopes of reorganizing its depleting finances, has reported $35 million in diocesan-owned property. But a committee representing creditors is seeking specifics about holdings involving not only the South Burlington administrative headquarters but also everything it oversees, starting with 63 local parishes with an estimated collective worth of $500 million.“The committee needs this information to assess, among other matters, amounts available to pay survivors,” creditors wrote in a court filing.Judge Heather Cooper, presiding over a Tuesday hearing in Burlington, said she was inclined to issue a future order for the diocese to provide information within its purview, but would require the committee to subpoena individual church organizations — the Vermont Catholic Community Foundation, for example — for their own documents.“I appreciate, at this point, the committee is not seeking to establish anything with respect to relationships,” Cooper said of financial connections between the diocese and its affiliated entities, “but rather to investigate and gather the information to be able to determine that.”But the resulting findings are expected to spark future debate on whether abuse claimants and other creditors will be limited to compensation from the church’s state headquarters or also could be reimbursed through local assets.The diocese, having paid $34 million in the past two decades to settle 67 lawsuits alleging priest misconduct as far back as 1950, filed for bankruptcy after anticipating it wouldn’t have the money to cover more than 30 pending claims, it notes on an explainer page on its website.READ MORE Church leaders consider the Chapter 11 case limited to their state-level umbrella office. They cite the 2006 placement of each of their local parishes — some 130 at the time — into separate trusts that call for covered assets to fund only “pious, charitable or educational purposes” and not jury verdicts or settlements.But the creditors committee argues in court papers that the church declared in an affidavit that it operates as a “corporation sole” (a single corporation led by the state’s Catholic bishop) and that entities such as parishes and schools aren’t separately incorporated but “part of the diocese’s civil corporation.”As a result, the committee is seeking information about all property of those parishes, trusts, schools, residential care homes and charitable and service organizations, as well as all documents about financial accounts and insurance policies.Creditors also want all paperwork relating to abuse claims alleged since Jan. 1, 1945, all lists of accused clergy and their personnel files, and all documents about settlement agreements, whether or not deemed “confidential.”The committee says its request is similar to those in other church bankruptcy cases, noting the Vermont diocese is the nation’s 40th Catholic entity to seek Chapter 11 protection. Church leaders are aiming to stem a scandal dating back three-quarters of a century. For their part, claimants want any financial reorganization plan to not only cover their unresolved cases but also set aside money for people who may report past abuse in the future. The court has set an April 4 deadline for people who haven’t spoken up to report clergy sexual abuse if they wish to seek compensation under the bankruptcy case.Read the story on VTDigger here: Abuse claimants in Vermont Catholic bankruptcy case seek details about local assets. ...read more read less