A major settlement has been reached between the Diocese of Gallup and those who suffered abuse at the hands of priests in the area served by the diocese, including Winslow, Holbrook and tribal areas of northern Arizona. Last month, a federal bankruptcy judge ordered the Diocese of Gallup to pay settlements to about 56 victims of predatory priests.
The ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma’s ends the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case against the diocese, which will reorganize to pay $21 million in settlement payments to the victims. It is estimated that most of the victims will receive an average of $350,000 and the attorneys involved have agreed to cap their total payment at about $3.5 million.
The settlement centered around Clement Hageman, who was a priest from 1930 until his death in 1975, and who was known by diocese officials as a pedophile for most of those years. Despite that knowledge, the diocese assigned Hageman to Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Holbrook from 1942 to 1952, and to Madre de Dios Parish in Winslow from 1965 to 1975.
The diocese acknowledged its awareness of Hageman’s horrific abuses in 2005 during a healing Mass for victims held at the Madre de Dios Parish in Winslow. The event was presided over by the late Bishop Donald Pelotte, who called Hageman one of the “most abusive priests in the diocese.”
The settlements end a three-year case against the Diocese of Gallup region of the Roman Catholic Church. The diocese has separately settled other lawsuits with other victims.
It was noted that part of the settlement money would go into a fund to help settle any future lawsuits brought against the diocese.
