In sworn deposition, job applicant says bishop asked about shielding finances from abuse settlements

The Diocese of Burlington, Vermont’s former bishop says there was “nothing nefarious” about the intent to shield diocesan assets from potential lawsuits.

A sworn deposition, filed as part of abuse lawsuits in the Diocese of Burlington, Vermont’s federal bankruptcy proceedings, alleges that the former bishop of the diocese asked a job applicant if she would be willing to help shield diocesan finances from a potential abuse settlement.

The prelate himself, meanwhile, told EWTN News that there was “nothing nefarious” in such a proposal, which he said was meant to protect Church assets from additional lawsuits while the diocese was already paying out settlements to abuse victims.

Celeste Heinonen claims in a July 9 court statement that she interviewed for the position of chief financial officer at the Diocese of Burlington in 2020. During that interview she said she spoke to then-Burlington Bishop Christopher Coyne, who she said brought up the topic of sex abuse lawsuits against the diocese.

The state had recently eliminated the statute of limitations of childhood sex abuse lawsuits, and Heinonen claimed in her deposition that Coyne stressed the “financial strain” under which the lawsuits could place the diocese.

The deposition alleges that Coyne claimed the diocese was seeking to “transfer its assets” in order to shield them from the abuse lawsuits. Heinonen said Coyne asked her if she “would be willing to help the diocese prepare the necessary paperwork to ensure that if the diocese lost its lawsuits, there would not be assets left to satisfy the potential judgments.”

In the deposition Heinonen said she was “shocked and felt sick to my stomach” over the request and that she was “noncommittal in my response.”

Heinonen said she later met with then-Chancellor Monsignor John McDermott, who she claims “asked how I felt about Bishop Coyne’s proposal.”

The priest “explained to me that it was important for the diocese to protect its current parishioners and not let the past ‘sins of its fathers’ harm the current parishioners or the diocese.”

Heinonen said she was informed later that same day that she had not received the job, with the position reportedly being offered to another candidate from Florida. Heinonen said in the deposition that she was “extremely upset and confused” by the questions regarding diocesan assets.

Coyne began serving as archbishop of Hartford, Connecticut, starting in 2024; that same year, McDermott was installed as bishop of Burlington.

‘We always tried to make amends’

Speaking to EWTN News from Hartford, Coyne said he did not remember the exact specifics of the conversations he held with the candidates during the interview process. He confirmed that the CFO position was ultimately offered to a candidate from Florida whose professional background in Catholic nonprofit work made him more suitable for the role.

The archbishop said there was “nothing nefarious” in his proposal that Church financial assets be moved around in advance of potential litigation.

“We weren’t violating any court orders,” he said. “The funds we had were free to be moved in any direction.”

He referred to such proposals as “good business.”

“It’s what anyone would do,” he said. “At that point we weren’t being sued. But the state was rattling the saber about the statute of limitations. I wanted to protect the assets of the Church that the faithful had given in good faith.”

“There was nothing untoward, illegal, or nefarious about saying, ‘Let’s protect our assets just in case we get sued again,’” he told EWTN News.

“You can spin anything you want and make it look bad,” he said. “But any person in charge of an organization would certainly do what they can to protect the assets of the organization for the good of the organization.”

Coyne said that during his time as bishop the Burlington Diocese was actively settling lawsuits with abuse victims even as the statute of limitations debate was occurring in the Vermont Legislature.

“These people were obviously victims,” he told EWTN News. “And we would settle with them at a comparable amount to global settlements we’d had in the past. We settled with some people for $350,000 to $400,000.”

“We always tried to make amends,” the archbishop said.

It was not immediately clear why Heinonen had filed the deposition in bankruptcy court, though court records suggest the statement was part of a series of motions by the plaintiffs of the abuse lawsuits playing out as part of diocesan bankruptcy proceedings. Heinonen could not be reached for comment regarding the allegations.

The Diocese of Burlington filed for bankruptcy in October 2024 while facing 31 lawsuits from abuse victims. McDermott said at the time that under the Chapter 11 filing, “funds will be allocated among all those who have claims against the diocese while hopefully allowing the diocese to maintain its essential mission and ministries.”

Coyne himself, meanwhile, oversaw a $35 million abuse settlement in the Diocese of Norwich, Connecticut, in February 2025. Coyne had been serving as the apostolic administrator of that diocese ahead of the installation of now-Bishop Richard Reidy.