Guam Catholic church to file bankruptcy amid abuse lawsuits

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Guam Catholic church to file bankruptcy amid abuse lawsuits

By CALEB JONES and GRACE GARCES BORDALLO
an hour ago

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Guam’s Catholic church will file for bankruptcy — a move that will allow the archdiocese to avoid trial in dozens of lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by priests and move toward settlements.

Archbishop Michael Byrnes announced Wednesday that mediation efforts that began in September led the church to bankruptcy.

“This path will bring the greatest measure of justice to the greatest number of victims,” Byrnes said. “That’s the heart of what we’re doing.”

Byrnes said the bankruptcy will provide “finality for victim survivors that they’ve been heard and understood.”

Attorney Leander James, who is working with alleged victims in Guam, said in a statement the move will help resolve current lawsuits from more than 180 claims of abuse through settlements.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/717d8e867f5347ab9a4590c91f665dfb

[edhopper]

1. There is one Catholic Church

and it runs out of the Vatican. Local bankruptcy is a bullshit move.

[MineralMan]

2. A very, very good point.

It's all one organization, centrally controlled. And it has been covering up child sexual abuse for so long that nobody can even remember when and where it started.

Feh!

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. The Trump manoeuvre - have a subsidiary declare bankruptcy when you're sued

to limit the payout, and then start up another one as if you're fit to run a business. Or a cult.

“Just because the archdiocese is filing for bankruptcy does not mean it will go out of business,” Perez said. “In my discussions with attorneys from my team with extensive experience in these types of bankruptcies, this filing will allow the archdiocese to reorganize and still be operational after the claims are paid and the bankruptcy is closed.”
...
“The church had to take a position to save all the churches and schools,” he said.

I can see a justification for saying their schools should remain as schools - ideally run by a public body. But the churches? They should be on the market, to pay what they can to the victims. It doesn't matter how much they'd fetch in the Guam real estate market; the principle is that a bankrupt organization loses all its assets.