The Archdiocese of Baltimore Announced last Friday that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in advance of the Oct. 1 effective date of a Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023 which removes the statute of limitations for civil actions by victims of sexual abuse that occurred while the victim was a minor. In the Announcement, Archbishop Lori said in part:
... I have made the decision I believe will best allow the Archdiocese both to equitably compensate victim-survivors of child sexual abuse and ensure the local Church can continue its mission and ministries.
In an interview with Catholic Review, the Archbishop said in part:
... [S]ince the new law does not provide a defined period of time or “lookback window” for victim-survivors to file suits, as many other states have done, the archdiocese could have faced many years of liability for anything that happened over the course of the last 80 years. The Chapter 11 reorganization process creates a one-time window for victims of past cases of abuse to file a claim and participate in the settlement process. Once that process is complete, no future lawsuits or claims will be allowed in historic cases of abuse.
