This is why I continue to no longer support the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. I will never give them another dime of my money. The Catholic Church is the richest entity on the planet. They own more real estate than any other organization in the world. They own works of art worth billions. The hierarchy of the church knew for decades about the sexual abuse of children at the hands of pedophile priests. They covered it up. They allowed priests to be moved to other parishes and continue their deviant behavior. They allowed the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent children to be destroyed. They have used the statute of limitations to avoid prosecution. They have paid off families, while still keeping priests protected. The cover-ups continue. The Philadelphia Cardinal used church funds to pay the bail for a convicted priest a few weeks ago. That priest was responsible for re-assigning known pedophiles to other parishes. The Cardinal is also selling off all the Catholic owned nursing homes to raise cash for lawsuits. He is disgusting human being.
Parishes across the country are now using bankruptcy laws to avoid their financial responsibility for the actions of their Cardinals, Bishops and priests. I find it revolting and evil. The Catholic Church has the money to pay for their sins. But the hierarchy of the church wants to retain their wealth, exert power and control over their flock. The new pope has shown promise, but until he purges the Catholic church of all these evil Cardinals, Bishops, and priests, I will not be part of their church.
Catholic Diocese Of Stockton Files Bankruptcy; Priest Sexual-Abuse Scandal Blamed
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/15/2014 10:50 -0500
Between lack of cash flows, insurmountable liabilities, an untenable pension funding, even insider fraud, we thought we had seen all the various reasons for filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. And then along came the Catholic Diocese of Stockton which announced that it would join its host city and seek bankruptcy protection “in the wake of the church’s sexual-abuse scandal.” As WSJ reported, Bishop Stephen E. Blaire said in a news release Monday that the diocese would seek bankruptcy protection Wednesday, explaining that reorganization was the only option for dealing with mounting legal costs related to abuse by priests. The bishop said the diocese has spent $14 million in legal settlements and judgments over the past 20 years dealing with abuse allegations, and doesn’t have funds available to settle pending lawsuits or address future allegations. The punchline: “Very simply, we are in this situation because of those priests in our diocese who perpetrated grave, evil acts of child sexual abuse.”
In the Stockton diocesan bankruptcy, the parties will likely agree on a figure that the diocese would pay, in addition to potentially pulling in funds from insurers. However, the diocese says it holds “relatively little property and assets.” Other holdings, including schools, parishes and several parcels of land, are incorporated separately.
And so the Stockton Catholics became the 10th US Diocese after Milwaukee; San Diego; Spokane, Wash.; Davenport, Iowa; Portland, Ore.; Tucson, Ariz.; Fairbanks, Alaska; Wilmington, Del.; and Gallup, N.M. to file bankruptcy. In addition, the Christian Brothers Institute, which operates Catholic schools and orphanages, also filed because of sexual abuse liabilities.
The Chapter 11 filing would halt pending litigation against the diocese and likely would ultimately allow it to discharge liabilities stemming from sexual-abuse allegations by setting up a trust to compensate victims. The diocese said it hopes to arrive at a resolution with victims and insurers through the process.
Joelle Casteix, western regional director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called the bankruptcy “problematic on a lot of different levels,” noting that it would let the diocese avoid future civil cases.
However, while the local catholics’ financial woes may be put on temporary hold, their civil troubles are only starting:
Separately, a grand jury Monday indicted a former priest with the diocese, Michael Eugene Kelly, and a warrant for his arrest has been issued. Calaveras County authorities are seeking Mr. Kelly’s extradition from Ireland to face charges of three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct on a child, and one count of oral copulation with a child. Mr. Kelly faces 14 years in prison if convicted.
Not surprisingly, the Catholic church which itself is embroiled in numerous financial scandals recently, was unable to come to the Diocese’s rescue even though it has already paid out an estimated $2.2 billion to cover settlements, therapy for victims, support for offenders, attorney fees and other costs, according to a report by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
And with this filing, we are fairly confident we have seen every possible bankruptcy filing reason.
