San Diego Diocese Files For Bankruptcy Reorganization

Just before midnight on Feb. 27, the Catholic Diocese of San Diego, California became the fifth Catholic Diocese to file for bankruptcy reorganization in the face of lawsuits seeking damages for past priest sexual abuse. Catholic Online reported yesterday that the filing was made just hours before the trial was to begin in the first of 140 lawsuits seeking damages for abuse by priests. (See prior related posting.) Bishop Robert Brom posted a letter on the Diocese website explaining the decision to file. It said in part: "We have decided against litigating our cases because of the length of time the process could take and, more importantly, because early trial judgments in favor of some victims could so deplete diocesan and insurance resources that there would be nothing left for other victims."