Facing more than 500 abuse lawsuits, San Francisco Archdiocese says bankruptcy ‘very likely’
Facing a staggering stack of more than 500 lawsuits alleging long-ago child sexual abuse by clergy, the Archdiocese of San Francisco, one of Northern California’s oldest Roman Catholic institutions, says it will “very likely” join more than a dozen dioceses across the U.S., including Oakland and Santa Rosa, and file for bankruptcy.
“It is all about protecting secrets first, and second, to reduce just compensation to the victims they have created,” SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in a statement that noted the San Francisco archdiocese is among few dioceses that have resisted publishing lists of credibly accused clergy. “The Archdiocese may indeed be morally bankrupt, as evidenced by their refusal to publish information about abusers that are known to them, but we doubt that they are really financially bankrupt.”
The decision comes months after the Diocese of Oakland filed for bankruptcy in May as it faced some 350 abuse claims, and the Diocese of Santa Rosa filed in March, facing about 220 claims. The Diocese of San Diego has indicated bankruptcy plans citing 400 claims, and is expected to file in the fall. The Diocese of Sacramento said earlier this year it is considering filing as well. The Diocese of Stockton resolved a 2014 bankruptcy in 2017.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/08/08/f...ry-likely/
Facing a staggering stack of more than 500 lawsuits alleging long-ago child sexual abuse by clergy, the Archdiocese of San Francisco, one of Northern California’s oldest Roman Catholic institutions, says it will “very likely” join more than a dozen dioceses across the U.S., including Oakland and Santa Rosa, and file for bankruptcy.
“It is all about protecting secrets first, and second, to reduce just compensation to the victims they have created,” SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in a statement that noted the San Francisco archdiocese is among few dioceses that have resisted publishing lists of credibly accused clergy. “The Archdiocese may indeed be morally bankrupt, as evidenced by their refusal to publish information about abusers that are known to them, but we doubt that they are really financially bankrupt.”
The decision comes months after the Diocese of Oakland filed for bankruptcy in May as it faced some 350 abuse claims, and the Diocese of Santa Rosa filed in March, facing about 220 claims. The Diocese of San Diego has indicated bankruptcy plans citing 400 claims, and is expected to file in the fall. The Diocese of Sacramento said earlier this year it is considering filing as well. The Diocese of Stockton resolved a 2014 bankruptcy in 2017.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/08/08/f...ry-likely/
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
