Pennsylvania diocese files for bankruptcy after sex abuse deals
(Pixabay)
HARRISBURG, Pa. - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, six months after disclosing it had paid millions of dollars to people sexually abused as children by its clerics.
The diocese joins at least 20 others across the United States in seeking protection from creditors through the federal bankruptcy system, but it is the first diocese in Pennsylvania to take such a step.
In August, the diocese said it paid 106 people a total of just over $12 million to compensate for claims of sexual abuse they suffered as children from its clerics, deacons and seminarians. Six others did not accept payment offers from the diocese.
The filing in Harrisburg federal bankruptcy court said the diocese “faces potentially significant exposure from remaining claimants” and wants Chapter 11 reorganization to provide money for unresolved claims and perform its ministry and other operations.
The diocese serves about 250,000 Catholics in 89 parishes, spanning 15 counties.
The filing could help shield it from additional claims, said Harrisburg lawyer Ben Andreozzi, who has settled about 20 claims against the diocese and has two pending lawsuits, all related to child sexual abuse.
“From the day they file bankruptcy, moving on into the future, if someone did not present their claim in that time frame, it is forever exhausted,” Andreozzi said.
RELATED COVERAGE:
Pennsylvania priests molested over 1,000 children, per report
Key dates in the Pennsylvania church abuse scandal
Nearly 1,700 priests ‘credibly accused’ of child sex abuse living with no oversight
Pennsylvania dioceses pays $84M to 564 clergy abuse victims
The Harrisburg diocese opened a temporary settlement program after a landmark grand jury report accused it and five other dioceses in Pennsylvania of covering up the sexual abuse of hundreds of children over much of the past century.
Many of those now-adult victims identified in the grand jury report are too old, under state law, to sue the dioceses.
The state Legislature last year took a crucial step toward amending the state constitution to give those victims a new opportunity to sue their abusers and institutions that may have covered it up.
The proposed amendment allowing such a lawsuit “window” must be passed by lawmakers again in the 2021-22 legislative session before needing approval by voters in a statewide referendum.
Lawmakers, however, have rejected changing state law to allow such lawsuits, as several other states have done.
Andreozzi said the diocese can resolve lawsuits at a much lower cost by going into bankruptcy before Pennsylvania opens a window for lawsuits.
RELATED COVERAGE:
Pa. ends time limits, overhauls laws for future child sexual abuse charges
Highlights of Pennsylvania's church scandal laws
Vatican office struggling to keep up with clergy abuse cases
Over 400 sex abuse suits filed as litigation window opens
A claim that goes to a jury in state court is typically worth several times as much in a cash settlement for a victim who sues, Andreozzi said.
Minneapolis attorney Jeff Anderson, whorepresentsdozens of clergy abuse survivors in lawsuits against the Roman Catholic dioceses, said filing for bankruptcy can be used to hide assets or shield them during the determination of their liability to victims.
Filing for bankruptcy can also help dioceses avoid being forced under court order to divulge documents or testimony about how they handled reports of abuse in the past, Anderson added.
A handful of bishops had sought Vatican approval to file for bankruptcy protection prior to the early 2000s when abuse allegations in Boston brought the clergy child sexual abuse scandal into sharp focus, but none had ever followed through.
Facing several legal claims over alleged abuse, including one lawsuit seeking $130 million, the Archdiocese of Portlandin Oregonwas the first to file for bankruptcy protection in 2004. The archdiocese reached a $75 million settlement to address the abuse claims as part of that proceeding.
Twenty-two U.S. dioceses and religious orders, including one in Guam, have filed for bankruptcy protection, according to the group BishopAccountability.org. One, Minnesota’s Diocese of St. Cloud, had announced bankruptcy plans but has continued negotiating with accusers to stave itoff.
___
For the latest local news, sports and weather, download the FOX 29 News app.
DOWNLOAD: FOX 29 NEWS APP
___
Associated Press writer Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed to this report.