Antigonish diocese borrows money to meet abuse payment

By Corey LeBlanc
The Casket

ANTIGONISH (CCN) — The Diocese of Antigonish had to tap into $2 million of bridge financing to make its second payment toward a class action suit settlement for victims of sexual abuse.

The $4.2 million instalment had to be made by Nov. 1, 2011.

Prior to making that payment last fall, the diocese’s Financial and Legal Advisory Committee (FLAC) confirmed that monies would have to be acquired in that manner to meet the deadline.

In an agreement brokered nearly two years ago by victims and the diocese, a timeline was set out for the distribution of the multimillion dollar settlement.

The diocese made its first payment ($3.6 million) May 31.

The third and final instalment carries a $4.2 million price tag.

The diocese accumulated funding for the first two instalments from parish monies and the sale of some of the diocese’s non-core assets, which include parish and diocesan properties not currently in use as worship spaces or as residences for priests.

“Sales are going on all the time. That’s an ongoing process,” Rev. Paul Abbass, diocesan spokesperson and vicar-general, said Jan. 16.
He confirmed there have been further property sales since the second instalment payment.

“It still remains with the real estate — there’s no other place for that money to come from, so we just commit ourselves as best we can and continue the process for these next 11 months to realize as much value as we can realize out of the land, real estate and assets that we have left,” Abbass said, when asked if there are other avenues under exploration for raising monies to cover the payments.

One of the assets still for sale is the diocese’s 62 per cent stake in the Casket Printing and Publishing 2006 Ltd., which includes community newspapers and commercial printing businesses.

“As I understand it, the sale is moving forward with the anticipation of it being completed towards the end of January,” Abbass said.

“I would probably give myself a couple of weeks because from what I am hearing from those involved you cannot predict an actual date, so I am guessing by mid-February it will be all completed,” he added.

The Diocese of Antigonish still owes the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Martha for a $1 million loan provided in late 2009.

“We still owe them that money,” Abbass said, confirming no payments have been made on that debt.

“We have a year, I believe, to pay that back,” he added.

The money from the Marthas was placed in an operational contingency fund for the Episcopal Corporation and for emergency needs that may arise in parishes within the next few years, according to the congregation.

According to Chronicle Herald story published Jan. 13, lawsuit claimants will only receive 62 per cent of the settlement amount — not including legal expenses — which they originally anticipated.

“We need to understand that the lawyers for the legal settlement claimants understood that going into that process,” Abbass said, when asked if the anticipated amount paid out for each individual settlement had decreased because of an increase in the number of claimants.

“There was a number that both sides somehow chose, which was 70 to 80 victims, and the $12 million was based on that.

“If it went over that number — because there was no way to know how many victims or claimants there would be — so once the advertising, which was part of the court-appointed settlement, was conducted across the country, then more claimants come in, there was a point when we would know how many claimants there would be and at that point, if the council for the claimants thought that number was unreasonable, they could opt out of the settlement.”

Abbass noted the claimants opted to “stay in the settlement.”

“That obviously would mean that they understood that there would be, if there is more people, a greater division of the $12 million or as it turns out $13 million,” he added.

The settlement agreement signed by participants does contain a clause outlining the possible change in payment due to the number of those who joined the class action suit.

In late November, John A. McKiggan, lawyer for the plaintiffs, told the Casket in an email, that eight claims were waiting for hearings in relation to the class action suit settlement with the Diocese of Antigonish for victims of sexual abuse.

At that time, McKiggan said 111 claims have been settled and approved by Justice Walter Goodfellow under an “expedited process” agreed to by the parties.

He added six more claims had been settled and approved, while 13 have been dismissed or withdrawn.