Anticipating hundreds of lawsuits under the new law, the church sought to protect its assets and limit its liability through bankruptcy. Diocesan officials also said bankruptcy would ensure the church compensated more survivors, rather than providing immense sums of money to a few, while continuing its mission.

The church’s decision meant survivors’ potential lawsuits had to be reconfigured into proof-of-claim forms and supporting documents. Harner set the deadline for such claims, ordering the archdiocese to advertise on news platforms and put the word out in its parishes.

In a statement Thursday, Archbishop William Lori said the approaching deadline served as a “ a stark reminder that behind each abuse-claim lies a personal and painful story.”

“Our goals in filing for Chapter 11,” Lori continued, “include compensating those individuals with the aim of helping to provide a possible path toward healing. … We can never undo the harm that was done to many, nor can we lessen the evil of what has happened, we can however continue to walk with those who have been harmed and do all we can to contribute to their healing.”

As survivors prepared and submitted claims, attorneys in the case sought to figure out how much money the archdiocese and its insurers would have to cough up to eventually compensate victims.

Tensions between the archdiocese and the insurance companies it retained over the years remain, as evidenced by an ongoing lawsuit by the church against several of its insurers alleging breach of contract, but the case is now likely heading to confidential mediation. Zdunek and Schochor expect mediation to begin over the summer.

“That mediation will involve the back and forth between the archdiocese, the insurers and the creditors committee in an attempt to arrive at what the creditor’s committee believes is a fair dollar amount to compensate survivors,” Schochor said.

The committee and archdiocese suggested Harner appoint as mediators Robert J. Faris, chief judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Hawaii, and attorney Brian J. Nash, who says on his LinkedIn page that he’s focused his practice on mediation for more than two decades.

Zdunek touted the joint request as an important step toward an eventual resolution.

“It’s huge,” Zdunek said. “It shows that we are working together to resolve this as fair and justly as possible.”

Once the church, its insurers and survivors agree to a sum to settle all the claims, it falls to Harner to approve the dollar amount.

After that, the survivors’ committee will come up with criteria for how to categorize abuse claims. Experts will be brought in to evaluate the claims and place them into tiers for compensation.

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