THE DIOCESE OF ROCKVILLE CENTRE FILES PLAN OF REORGANIZATION

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Jan 27, 2023, 15:27 ET

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y., Jan. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Diocese of Rockville Centre (www.drvc.org) filed its Plan and Disclosure Statement today, offering a substantial proposal for settling with survivors. The Diocese believes the Plan is the best means to efficiently and effectively pave the way for compensating survivors and emerging from bankruptcy.

To demonstrate its commitment to move forward, the Diocese has proposed a plan that it hopes provides a framework for a timely resolution of this bankruptcy case for survivors, the Diocese, and its parishes. The Diocese, which has continued to work towards a global settlement, believes that the extensive and needlessly expensive litigation path chosen by the Unsecured Creditors Committee's proposed plan would only continue to financially erode assets of the Diocese, parishes and other co-insureds that would otherwise be used to fund the settlement.

Under the Diocese's Plan the estimated total contribution from the Diocese, Parishes, its Co-Insured Parties, and other ministry members has a value between $185 million and $200 million. These figures do not include the value of the Diocese's substantial rights against third-party insurance companies, which are also being contributed under the Plan. The Diocese continues to press for these rights in settlement negotiations for the benefit of survivors.

The settlement contributions in the Diocese's Plan compare quite favorably to recoveries under other Diocesan bankruptcy plans. By way of comparison, the average aggregate non-insurance contribution for Dioceses that have confirmed chapter 11 plans is approximately $21.4 million. When non-insurance settlement contributions are coupled with the insurance rights contribution, the Diocese's Plan brings both the aggregate and per-claim recovery well in excess of any other Diocesan chapter 11 plan in history.

The Diocese believes that survivors deserve and expect a settlement now and hopes that all parties can work together to complete this equitable and unprecedented settlement offer.

"The alternative litigation path advocated by the Committee will take years, and wastefully drain resources that would otherwise be directed toward compensating survivors," said Sean P. Dolan, Director of Communications, Diocese of Rockville Centre. "The litigation path also jeopardizes the common good of Long Island, particularly for those families that depend on the Diocese to deliver compassionate health care, housing, education, food security, substance abuse, mental health and grief counseling, immigration services, religious and spiritual care."

SOURCE Diocese of Rockville Centre