Nuns ask to bring diocese back to Montana court

HELENA — An order of nuns facing child sex abuse lawsuits wants to bring the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena back into state court, saying the diocese should have to pay part of any judgment against the Ursuline Sisters of the Western Province.

Attorneys for the Ursulines are asking a judge to lift a stay in legal proceedings that was granted to the diocese when it filed for federal bankruptcy protection earlier this year.

A total of 362 people have sued the Ursulines and the diocese, alleging they were abused as children from the 1940s to the 1970s across western Montana. The bankruptcy case is part of a proposed $15 million settlement between the diocese and the plaintiffs.

(Details in Wednesday's Havre Daily News.)