Prof. Soper Assesses Archdiocese's Arguments on MPR

Professor Christopher Soper spoke to Minnesota Public Radio about the ongoing Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis bankruptcy case. The Archdiocese claims that the assets of the separately incorporated parishes, schools, and cemetaries within the Archdiocese should not be included in the payout to Archdiocese creditors (primarily sexual abuse claimants). Soper assessed the creditors' argument, that the parishes and their assets are under control of the Archdiocese and should therefore be used to pay sexual abuse claimants. He acknowledged that a similar argument did not work in the Milwaukee church bankruptcy, and that, "It's rare that this kind of relief would be granted but certainly possible. It's happened before in other corporate cases."