On December 1, the Diocese of Camden reached another important step to successfully completing the reorganization process. This timeline began more than 26 months ago on October 1, 2020. The successful reorganization will establish a substantial trust to compensate survivors of sexual abuse by a few priests of the Diocese of Camden.
With the full support of the Survivors’ Committee, representing hundreds of abuse survivors, the Diocese of Camden appeared before the Honorable Jerrold N. Poslusny, Jr., of the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey, who heard 14 days of testimony and received hundreds of exhibits that show as announced earlier this year the Diocese acted in good faith towards reaching a settlement with the survivors.
“I am thankful that we are on the verge of finalizing the reorganization,” said Most Reverend Dennis J. Sullivan, D.D., Bishop of Camden. “This is an important milestone in a process that has been long and often painful. While there are still final aspects to address, the reorganization process has accomplished something that was never thought possible for many years – a settlement with survivors harmed by sick and sinful priests while also permitting the Diocese to move forward with its mission for the people of South Jersey.”
On April 19 of this year, the Diocese of Camden and representatives of abuse survivors announced a settlement establishing a trust to be funded with $87.5 million from the Diocese and related Catholic entities over a four-year period. The settlement also includes maintaining or enhancing the protocols for the protection of children, which were first implemented by the Diocese in 2002.
A full breakdown of the settlement announced in April can be found here: https://www.camdendiocese.org/diocese-and-survivors-reach-settlement/.
During the past summer, an unprecedented 98% of all survivors voted in support of the settlement, greenlighting the process to move forward. Unfortunately, since that time, insurance companies holding diocesan policies have slowed the reorganization process to a crawl as they attempted to limit their potential financial responsibility to survivors. The recent hearings were held to obtain final Court approval of the Survivor Trust.
“As this most recent step concludes during the season of Advent, I encourage the faithful to remember in their prayers all abuse survivors as we prepare for Christmas commemorating the birth of Jesus, whose mission for the care of all peoples we must never forget,” said Bishop Sullivan.