In re Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of Santa FE

• Decision Date: 17 September 2021
• Docket Number: 18-13027-t11
• Parties: In re: ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SANTA FE, Debtor.
• Court: U.S. Bankruptcy Court — District of New Mexico

In re: ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SANTA FE, Debtor.

No. 18-13027-t11

United States Bankruptcy Court, D. New Mexico

September 17, 2021

OPINION

Hon David T. Thuma, United States Bankruptcy Judge

Rudy Blea's name is on a list published by Debtor identifying "Priests, Deacons, and Religious Accused of Sexual Abuse of Children." He maintains Debtor put him on the list in error and refuses to remove him, causing him personal and professional harm. Before the Court is Blea's motion for relief from the automatic stay so he can pursue equitable relief to correct the alleged wrong. The Court held a final hearing on the motion on August 19, 2021. Being sufficiently advised, the Court concludes that the motion is not well taken and should be denied.

A. Facts.

The Court finds:^[1]

Blea 70, lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He works for the New Mexico Department of Health as director of the office of oral health.

Blea was born and raised in Santa Fe. He attended Catholic schools, graduating from high school in 1969. He then went to New Mexico Highlands University for a year, where he performed poorly. He transferred to the College of Santa Fe in 1970, simultaneously enrolling in the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary ("IHM"), also in Santa Fe. In the summer of 1970, before starting at IHM, Blea was a leader of some kind in Debtor's "SEARCH" program. The program was designed to develop leadership and Christian ideals among young Catholics. The program included retreats and get-togethers. At one of these activities Blea, 19, met Gary House, 17, a program participant. During the summer they had a sexual encounter. Blea and House had no contact thereafter.

Blea completed his seminary training at IHM in 1974 and applied to the St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado. His application omitted his year at New Mexico Highlands, instead representing that he enrolled in IHM in 1969. Blea was accepted to St. Thomas and studied there two and a half years. He then left the seminary, taking a job in Sacramento, California with the California Department of Health. Blea was never ordained as a priest or deacon, nor was he ever employed by Debtor or any other Catholic Church. Nevertheless, Blea was involved with the Catholic Church in California and New Mexico as a lay minister for at least 39 years.

In June 1994, 24 years after his encounter with Blea, House sued Blea, Debtor, the Pecos Benedictine Monastery, the Benedictine Monks, and Archbishop Sanchez, seeking damages for sexual assault. Blea was not served with process until July 1995.

In February 1995, Counsel for Debtor and other defendants (except Blea) took House's deposition. House testified that Blea took advantage of him in 1970 when he was vulnerable and looking for spiritual guidance. House testified that Blea raped him in a room at the Benedictine Monastery in Pecos, New Mexico.

After being served with process in California, Blea traveled to Santa Fe and retained counsel. His lawyer advised him to settle the matter. Blea wrote a check to his counsel for $5, 000 and eventually (in May 1997) he was dismissed from the action with prejudice.^[2] The other defendants were dismissed at about that time. Nothing in the record indicates how much, if anything, the other defendants paid House to settle his claims.

Blea never got the chance to cross-examine House.^[3] He strongly disputes House's testimony and testified at the stay relief hearing that the sexual encounter was consensual.

The lawsuit did not result in any adverse action by the Catholic Church against Blea-he was still allowed to work as a lay minister in California and New Mexico. Similarly, no adverse action was taken by the State of California, Blea's employer at the time. There is no evidence that anyone else has ever accused Blea of sexual abuse.

Blea worked and lived in Sacramento, California between 1976 and 2002. At some point before 2017 he returned to Santa Fe.

On September 12, 2017, as part of its attempt to deal with the priest sex abuse scandal, Debtor issued a news release that included a "Letter from Archbishop John C. Wester to introduce List of Accused Priests, Deacons & Religious." Among other things, the letter addressed the measures Debtor was taking to prevent sexual abuse of children and its efforts to help victims of past abuse. The letter stated in part:

Here at the archdiocese, we have been continually working to identify additional ways that we may aid in the healing process. Not long after I became your archbishop, I concluded that a critical step is for the archdiocese to publicly acknowledge and identify those clergy and religious who have been accused of perpetrating child sexual abuse within our archdiocese. . . . While many of the accused names have already been made public or have been identified elsewhere, this is the first time the archdiocese has published such a list. . . . .

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe's list of accused clergy and religious includes the following:

. The names of all accused clergy and religious who worked within the bounds of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe who have been found guilty of sexually abusing a child, either by the Church (canon law), the State (criminal law), or both. . . .

. The names of all clergy and religious who worked within the boundaries of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe who have been laicized after having been accused of sexually abusing a minor.

. The names of all clergy and religious who worked within the boundaries of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe who have been publicly accused of sexually abusing a child, but who had already been laicized and therefore were no longer in active ministry by the time the accusations were received.

. The names of those deceased clergy and religious who worked within the boundaries of the Archdiocese who have been publicly accused of sexually abusing a child, but where criminal or canonical proceedings were not completed. In most cases, the accused priest had died before the allegations were received.

The news release included a "List of Priests, Deacons, and Religious Accused of Sexual Abuse of Children" (as amended, the "List"). Blea is on the List, identified as a Benedictine brother. The letter and the List were published by local and national media, including newspapers in Santa Fe and USA Today. The List also was published on BishopAccountability.org, which has a database of publicly accused U.S. priests, deacons, etc.. The site was created by the United States Catholic Bishops.

The archbishop decided who to put on the List. Before potential names were submitted to him for consideration, however, an Independent Review Board (IRB)^[4] investigated each person and made a recommendation.

After the List was published, Debtor dismissed Blea from his lay ministries and the State of New Mexico prohibited Blea from participating in activities or programs involving children. There were no other adverse consequences, such as job termination, reduced salary, or demotion.

Blea wrote letters to Debtor's archbishop and Vicar General in November 2017, asserting that he was never ordained, was not a deacon, brother, or priest, and was never part of the Benedictine Order. He asked to be removed from the List.

In March 2018, the Vicar General wrote a letter to Blea, informing him that the IRB had met to consider his request to have his name removed from the List. The letter stated in part:

To recap the issue that you brought to the Board to reconsider was your status when the alleged action took place, not whether the allegation was credible or not. Your contention is that you were never a Priest, Deacon or Religious, therefore should not be on the list.

The [IRB] reviewed your request and has concluded that insufficient grounds exist for removing your name from the list. In the time frame that the alleged incident took place, you had a relationship with the Benedictine Pecos Monastery and with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. The type of relationship you had with the Benedictine Pecos Monastery would be classified as a stage of inquiry/formation. The relationship with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe is one in which you were a Seminarian, in formation preparing for ordination to the priesthood. The Board does recommend that a footnote be added to the [L]ist acknowledging your situation at the time. The Archdiocese will follow that recommendation.

In the List, the description of Blea's affiliation was changed from "Benedictine OSB" to "In formation for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe 1969 to 1976." The List's title was changed to include "Seminarians." Blea did not appeal the IRB's/Debtor's decision within the church.^[5]

On March 21, 2018, Blea filed a lawsuit in state court against Debtor, asserting claims for defamation, false light invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and prima facie tort. He asks for compensatory and punitive damages. Debtor answered the complaint on May 18, 2018. Litigation was stayed by the filing of this case on December 3, 2018.

On May 30, 2019, Blea filed a proof of claim for $200, 000. Attached to his proof of claim is a copy of his state court complaint.

In his stay motion, Blea seeks relief to "to amend his state court complaint to include a request for injunctive and Equitable Relief or to file an adversary proceeding requesting the same relief." The equitable relief Blea ultimately hopes to get is:

1. A statement to the national website Bishops Accountability.org that Blea was not a priest, deacon religious, brother or seminarian or any other conferred religious persona at the time of the alleged sexual contact with House.

2. Acknowledgement to those questioning removal of Blea's name from various lists that Blea was never allowed to give a

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