San Diego Diocese Mulls Bankruptcy

NBC San Diego ^ | February 19, 2007

[Alex Murphy]

SAN DIEGO -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego said in a letter to parishioners this weekend that it is considering declaring bankruptcy to avoid going to trial on more than 140 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests.

The pastoral statement, signed by Bishop Robert Brom, said if fair settlements can't be reached with abuse victims, "the diocese may be forced to file a Chapter 11 reorganization in bankruptcy court."

The diocese is concerned "that settlements not cripple the ability of the Church to accomplish its mission and ministries," the letter said.

The letter was included in the regular weekly bulletin handed out at services Saturday and Sunday.

If the diocese files for bankruptcy, it would become the fifth in the nation to seek protection in the clergy sex abuse scandal.

An attorney for the San Diego plaintiffs said the Chapter 11 filing "would be a sham and frivolous."

"We don't know if the threat of bankruptcy is a ploy to try and get the plaintiffs to settle for less money or if it's a stonewalling tactic," attorney Andrea Leavitt said. "What the public needs to know is this is a very rich diocese with over 500 pieces of property and a lot of insurance."

Brom was expected to further address the issue at a pre-Lent meeting Monday of nearly 300 priests in the diocese. The diocese includes about a million Catholics in San Diego and Imperial counties.

There are 154 plaintiffs in San Diego County alleging priest abuse, Leavitt said. Brom, in his letter, wrote that 143 people had filed lawsuits against the diocese.

The first case is set for trial in Superior Court Feb. 28. Nicki Rister accuses the Rev. Patrick O'Keeffe of forcing her to have sex in his parish office in 1972 when she was 17.

Three other trials are scheduled to follow, involving multiple victims and allegations that the diocese protected abusive priests by moving them from parish to parish.

A message left at the San Diego Diocese was not immediately returned Sunday night.

[wmfights]

It is a terrible thing in any church. It seems that the victims always include those that have to pay the settlements, the congregation.

[Leisler]

Catholic Church, Inc.
Hey, you! Schmuck, yeh you with the muffler shop! You pay taxes, come on, give it up. Us? Oh, we...ah...we're a 'church', so even though we own half the land in town, and can sell it at a profit, we are a 'non-profit'. Capishe?

[The Old Hoosier]

The properties are churches, shrines, hospitals, retreat centers and schools for the most part. They can't just be "sold off" for a profit. The Church needs them to do its thing.

We're not talking about vacation homes here.

[Running On Empty]

And it's not "half the lnad in town", either.

[Running On Empty]

lnad=land

Back to my coffee.

[Leisler]

Taxes make people more conscious of government waste. By and large these activities have no incentive to keep taxes lower and efficiently use land. The Catholic church usually advocates higher taxes. For others, not itself. If people want a retreat, they can sit in a mop closet. I don't want to subsides the Catholic church, mosques, imams, temples, Burger King or The Grand Order of Umba-gumba.

Of course the Church needs the land, tax free, to do 'it's thing'. Me too. I'll think I'll try it.

[Running On Empty]

Thanks for stopping by.

[Gamecock]

***The pastoral statement, signed by Bishop Robert Brom, said if fair settlements can't be reached with abuse victims, "the diocese may be forced to file a Chapter 11 reorganization in bankruptcy court."***

"Fair settlements" as determined by whom?

[wmfights]

"Fair settlements" as determined by whom?

The only fair settlement I can think of is a lifetime incarceration if the person is guilty beyond any reasonable doubt.

The financial side is a harder issue. In Chicago 10 years ago, or so, a guy with aids accused the Cardinal of molesting him as an young man. The cardinal denied it, but the press seemed to indicate he might have done it. Only a year later did it come out that it was impossible for him to have done it. In our litigious society and with the weak minded juries we have what would have happened if this guy had been able to go to court.

[The Old Hoosier]

The Catholic church usually advocates higher taxes.

That's interesting to learn, I've never heard the "High Taxes" sermon.

You participate in a money-making activity, and so under an income-tax regime, you pay taxes on the money you make. The Church, on the other hand, loses tons of money educating poor kids, caring for the sick, and, in theory, teaching people to be good Christian citizens.

If you were a smart conservative/libertarian, you would support such private-sector activity as an alternative to government social services.

[Leisler]

I was talking taxes on land. The idea that any entity, and especially a church, can accumulate land, demand police, fire, and other services and absent themselves from the tax that pays for those services is repugnant at best. Boston is dying from wealthy universities, churches and other land tax exempt organizations.

I personally know of 40 acres of waterfront property on Cape Cod that is owned by the Archdiocese of Fall River. They have owned it for decades, it is unused and they pay no taxes to the town. The Archdiocese is always shaking down working class and poor immigrants in Fall River. Somehow I think if they were paying $80,000 dollars a year to the town, they would do something productive with the land. But no. So, in a town needing land for housing. A town with very expensive lots, unaffordable to tradesmen, cops and teachers, the Archdiocese, like some ancient prince's deer hunting preserves, the land goes wasted and the supposedly desperate church prepares to stiff those that it owes for goods and services.

So, depending on what benefits the church at the moment, it pleads special exemption or that it is just a corporation and just wants what to dump obligations like a bigger Enron.

[Alex Murphy]

If you were a smart conservative/libertarian, you would support such private-sector activity as an alternative to government social services.

I agree - but would you support it via private donations/tithes/offerings, or through a State-confiscation (taxation) system? And if you were said "private sector activity", would you support/participate in the State-confiscation system, in lieu of/in addition to the weekly offering plate?

[The Old Hoosier]

would you support/participate in the State-confiscation system, in lieu of/in addition to the weekly offering plate?

Unfortunately, it becomes "in lieu of" de facto when taxes go up.

[The Old Hoosier]

The kind of tax makes no difference. Taxes are levied against persons and corporations that make money, we traditionally do not tax groups who provide some other benefit to society as education, care for the poor and sick, etc. And when I give to the Church, I don't want my money to have to come out in the form of property taxes.

If you don't like the Church's land use practices, why don't you go complain to the zoning board?