Federal Judge Offers To Mediate Part Of Milwaukee Archdiocese Bankruptcy Case

A federal judge in Milwaukee is offering to mediate a key part of the bankruptcy dispute involving clergy abuse victims and the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman was recently handed the case of the Archdiocese’s roughly $65 million cemetery trust fund after a federal appeals court in Chicago ruled that the Archdiocese could not shield the fund from creditors in its four-year-long bankruptcy dispute.

Peter Isely of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said he appreciates Adelman’s offer to mediate herself, or to have a retired federal magistrate do so.

“There’s a lot of questions in the cemetery trust that have yet to be answered — how the money was set up, how the Vatican was involved,” he said.

The church’s lawyer said it doesn’t appear either side is ready yet for mediation.

Adelman asked the attorneys to report back in a month.