Nuns sue Boston Archdiocese over retirement funds

The highest court in Massachusetts is being asked to settle an unusual dispute between an order of Roman Catholic nuns and Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, trustee of a church-run pension fund.

The Daughters of St. Paul say they have tried for more than five years to withdraw from the Boston archdiocese pension fund so they could set up a separate, self-run pension plan for their U.S. lay employees.

In a lawsuit filed in December, the Daughters allege that the pension fund's 11 trustees — who include O'Malley — have failed to give them a full accounting of their portion of the fund. 

They asked the Supreme Judicial Court to either order the trustees to give them the details or to rule that the nuns were never part of the plan and order the archdiocese to reimburse them for the contributions they made.

The Daughters of St. Paul is an international order with about 60 members in Boston and 75 more around the country. 

The group runs a publishing house called Pauline Books and Media, which publishes Catholic books, educational materials and music. 

The order has about 50 lay employees in the Boston area and 30 others around the country.

The nuns' lawyer, Michael McLaughlin, said they hesitated to sue the trustees, particularly O'Malley, but felt they had no other choice.

"This is not an action by the nuns against the cardinal in his capacity as cardinal. They are suing the trustees, of which he is one," said McLaughlin. "At first, we just thought there were some problems — it's a big organization. As years went by, and very recently, it became clear that they didn't have the data."

Terry Donilon, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said the archdiocese has a good relationship with the Daughters of St. Paul and is confident the lawsuit can be resolved through mediation.

"We're happy to resolve this," he said. "We are trying to ensure that when they withdraw, that there's a plan, that they are going to continue to provide for the well-being of the beneficiaries of the fund. We don't think that is a lot to ask."

Donilon said there are three issues that must be resolved: the value of the nuns' portion of the fund, the timeline for the spinoff, and the Daughters' request for the archdiocese to pay its legal fees.

McLaughlin said the nuns believe they are owed $1.37 million, based on the value of the assets in 2007.

Neither Donilon nor Carol Gustavson, the archdiocese's director of benefit trusts, would say what they believe the nuns' assets are worth. 

Gustavson said that is a calculation that will be resolved through mediation.

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