U.S. District Court Judge Ann Montgomery affirmed Dec. 6 an earlier U.S. Bankruptcy Court ruling that the assets of 187 parishes, three Catholic high schools and the Catholic Community Foundation are separate and cannot be consolidated into the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ bankruptcy.
A committee representing sexual abuse claimants filed Aug. 10 to appeal a bankruptcy court judge’s ruling that declined to consolidate the assets of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis with those of parishes and other Catholic entities in the archdiocese’s bankruptcy process.
“Even if I had the authority to substantively consolidate the debtor with non-consenting, eleemosynary [nonprofit] non-debtors, the committee failed to allege sufficient facts to support substantive consolidation,” Judge Robert Kressel wrote in a 10-page decision.
