San Francisco’s Catholic Archdiocese will “likely” be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid hundreds of lawsuits filed against the church in recent years, according to a statement by the church’s archbishop.
The decision to file for Chapter 11, according to Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, would allow the archdiocese to continue to operate while reorganizing its finances and handling the cases all together rather than individually.
“For several months now, with the assistance of our financial and legal advisors, we have been investigating the best options for managing and resolving these cases,” Cordileone said. “After much contemplation and prayer, I wish to inform you that a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization is very likely.”
During his tenure as archbishop of San Francisco, Cordileone has grappled with decades-long sexual-abuse scandals that have seized the church while overseeing an $87 million settlement.
The filing comes almost three months after the Catholic Diocese of Oakland announced it had also filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in light of 330 lawsuits.
Cordileone pointed to 500 civil cases that were filed against the Archdiocese after California removed the statute of limitations on sexual abuse claims for non-profits in 2019.
“… The vast majority of the alleged abuse occurred in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and involved priests who are deceased or no longer in ministry,” he said. “In addition to deceased individuals who can no longer defend themselves, a significant number of these claims include unnamed individuals or named individuals who are unknown to the Archdiocese….”
From the San Francisco Standard
Empirical evidence has shown that, worldwide, 80% of clergy sexual abuse has been against boys. In the past, homosexuality in the priesthood was covert and lay Catholics were aware but silent about it. I predict that there will be many more cases of abuse in the years to come due to an influx of gay seminarians who enter the priesthood malformed in orthodox religious training.
Cool. Now we can go forward with all of the sexual abuse cases in the California public school system now too.
California dreamin’ (sarc)
The part that gets me is, if the clergy or whomever abused these children, are dead, how do we get the real events of what happened? Any form of abuse is inexcusable in my opinion, but I also feel like there needs to be a way to prove this actually happened to who ever is doing the accusing. I know people who have been accused of things they didn’t do! So I’m praying that the Holy Spirit will shine his light brightly because Jesus said “ the truth shall set you free” for the guilty, if you are gone from this world, you will be held accountable for hurting our little ones. God help us all! Praying for all victims and for Mother church.
Well, a crime like rape or sex abuse– unless there are witnesses– is hard to prove. Many criminals, and clerical sex abusers, have no moral conscience, and refuse to admit to the truth of their crimes. Theodore McCarrick never admitted to any of his numerous sex abuse crimes. Victims, especially children and teens, end up with a lifetime of unimaginable mental torture and suffering– and are never again able to feel comfortable in a church. Their religious faith is severely damaged– some leave the Church, and some become atheists.
The solution is not to subvert the rules of evidence or the rights of the accused. Some Scottish legislators proposed requiring bench trials for those accused of rape or sexual assault to avoid the “bias” of juries and to raise conviction rates. Scotland’s entire legal profession rose in protest, defeating the measure. Surely that’s not a direction you want us going?
Tom Byrne– what do you think is the best way to deal with the problem of clerical child sex abuse? Trials like what happened in Australia with Cardinal Pell are very confusing. And it is just unimaginable, the huge amount of this crime in the Catholic Church! The future looks confusing and a bit scary, to me! Why on earth would a priest or a bishop turn out to be a dangerous, heartless criminal, a child molester– a monster, with no moral conscience? Very few in the teaching profession turn out this way. What do you think is wrong with our Catholic clergy? And if the problem is homosexuality– I wonder, don’t gay men, who may work in any field– have a moral conscience?? Doctors, lawyers, priests, ministers, teachers, policemen, businessmen (etc.)– are all these fields endangering the public, if homosexuals are admitted to them? The possible lack of a moral conscience, and criminal behavior of a priest or bishop– is unimaginably horrifying! Wonder if the Orthodox churches have this problem, also??
That is very dated.
which will go bankrupt first ???
The Archdiocese of San Francisco?
OR
The City & County of San Francisco?