MILWAUKEE – A federal judge on Thursday chose not to unseal depositions in which former top church officials described how allegations of child sexual abuse were handled, saying the threat to victims’ anonymity outweighed the public’s right to know how church leaders handled allegations of abuse by priests.

The depositions were taken in recent months in connection with a bankruptcy-protection filing by the archdiocese. The church officials who were deposed include retired Archbishop Rembert Weakland, 85, and retired Bishop Richard Sklba, 76.

A victims’ group had argued that the depositions should be released to identify abusive priests and the church officials who covered up their crimes, as well as to satisfy the public’s right to know.

However, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan Kelley said her primary concern was the anonymity of victims who might still be trying to put their ordeal behind them.

“There’s a risk survivors will be identified,” she said. “I will not take that risk.”

She said there were three reasons why she approved the original taking of the depositions: to preserve evidence from witnesses who were older and whose memories might fade; to understand what happened so the parties could figure out what sort of claims people might bring; and to help find people who might want to file claims.

All three ends have been achieved, she said, and unsealing the documents now would do nothing to advance the bankruptcy case.

As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, 570 men and women filed sex-abuse claims against the archdiocese.

Francis LoCoco, an attorney for the archdiocese, said only 28 of them, or 5 percent, filed publicly, and the rest did not want their names revealed. That shows how much they want to protect their anonymity, he said.

“Many abused survivors live in mortal fear they will be outed,” he told the judge.

He said he was concerned that even if the depositions were released without names, enough other details – for example, that a victim was an altar boy at a specific parish in a specific year – could still allow someone to piece together victims’ identities.

Jeff Anderson, whose firm represents about 350 people who have filed claims, said he took pains to word his deposition questions in a way that limited the discussion of such identifying information. Even so, he said, he would go out of his way to edit out items that provided even the least hint of a victim’s identity.

But the judge wasn’t convinced. She said her greatest concern was not doing anything to interfere with the survivors’ need for healing.

Peter Isely, the Midwest director for the victim advocacy group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said the ruling was actually a defeat for the archdiocese. He said church officials need to experience shame for their actions, and the judge’s ruling denies them “the shame they need to feel.”

He also said his group will begin asking Catholic parishioners to sign petitions calling for the depositions to be unsealed.

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Dinesh Ramde can be reached at dramde@ap.org.

04/05/12 15:59