The Catholic Church’s shrinking physical presence in Western New York will get even smaller when the Buffalo Diocese sells off valuable real estate to help settle sex abuse claims.
The diocese and its parishes want abuse litigation against parishes to be put on hold for at least another 90 to 120 days so mediation discussions can progress without the distraction of having to defend against potentially hundreds of lawsuits in state courts.
The diocese, which four years ago today filed for Chapter 11 protection, has identified 22 properties, including its longtime headquarters, it may sell to generate funds toward a settlement of the roughly 900 claims in federal bankruptcy court.
But aside from that development, there’s little indication the diocese is close to reaching a deal with the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which represents about 900 people who said they were sexually abused as children by Catholic priests or other diocese employees.
The bankruptcy case, filed Feb. 28, 2020, already has taken longer to resolve than any other diocese reorganization except for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s, which took nearly five years.
While Buffalo Diocese officials and an attorney for the creditors committee declined to comment on their mediated…
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