Less than six months after turning 75, and offering his mandatory resignation to the Holy Father, Bishop Dennis Sullivan stood before the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey, Camden, and stated that it was his intention to see the clergy sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the Diocese of Camden through to the end.
“He never shied away from this difficult moment,” said Laura Montgomery, the Chief Financial Officer for the Diocese of Camden. “He had an openness to understanding that we had a responsibility to those who were harmed. From day one, Bishop Sullivan said to the court and survivors, ‘You tell me where, you tell me when, I’ll be there.’”
In 2019, the Diocese of Camden, along with the other New Jersey dioceses, published their lists of credibly accused priests. Shortly thereafter, the State of New Jersey formally opened a two-year lookback window that extended the statute of limitations for sexual abuse survivors. After that decision, explained Father Robert Hughes, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia, “We knew there would be a race to the courthouse.”
Concerned that the first survivor lawsuit decision could handicap the Diocese’s ability to provide compensation for other survivors, the choice was made to utilize Chapter 11 under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
“It was in order to take responsibility, and in hopes of settling with the survivors to get compensation to all of them, that these actions were made,” Father Hughes said.
Montgomery agreed. “It was absolutely paramount that we had to be fair to all of the survivors, not just the first one.”
On October 1, 2020, the Diocese of Camden announced it had filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. In a letter that same day, Bishop Dennis Sullivan explained the factors behind this difficult decision. He cited the financial strain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had significantly reduced revenue and impacted parishes, as well as the more than $8 million the Diocese had already paid through the New Jersey Independent Victims Compensation Program to support survivors of clergy abuse.
“I have had to make many decisions in my time as your Bishop, but few have been as considered as this one,” he wrote, adding that the decision was “intended to allow for the fair compensation of the victims of abuse, the payment of debts to our creditors, and the safeguarding of the assets which make our religious, educational and social service ministries possible.”
In the years that followed, Bishop Sullivan made it a priority to be present every time court was in session. He expressed personal embarrassment for the past actions priests of the Diocese committed against vulnerable children. He met with survivors.
In 2018, before the Chapter 11 filing, he ensured there were evenings of prayer for the survivors of abuse and reparation for the sins of the Church. During one such prayer service, at Saint Agnes Church, Our Lady of Hope Parish, Blackwood, Bishop Sullivan lay prostrate on the altar in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
Reflecting back on that moment now, he said, “I laid down on the floor of the church in total humiliation and begging the mercy of God on the victims, and for God’s help. I chose that as a sign of my connection and love for the survivors and pleading that somehow they find healing.”
In March 2024, the Diocese of Camden’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan was approved. It provides for the establishment of a substantial trust to compensate survivors of sexual abuse within the Diocese. The trust will be funded with $87.5 million from the Diocese and related Catholic entities over a five-year period. The settlement also includes maintaining and enhancing the protocols for the protection of children, which were first implemented by the Diocese in 2002.
Though approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, it was appealed by some non-settling insurance companies. As of press time, it remains in a Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
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