Boston RC Mulls Bankruptcy to Shield from Abuse

by blondie 18 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  blondie

  http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20021201_208.html Report: Boston Church Mulls Bankruptcy Move

  Dec. 1

  BOSTON (Reuters) - The Archdiocese of Boston is contemplating filing for bankruptcy protection to shield it from the estimated 450 clergy sexual abuse victims who have filed civil lawsuits against it, The Boston Globe reported on Sunday.

  Such a move by the archdiocese, which has been at the epicenter of a pedophilia scandal rocking the Roman Catholic church for almost a year, would be without precedent in the United States, the paper said.

  Citing a senior church official and two sources close to the archdiocese, the Globe said Boston Cardinal Bernard Law had discussed the matter but had yet to approve a bankruptcy filing.

  Filing for bankruptcy protection in federal court would halt action in the civil lawsuits against the archdiocese, would prevent new lawsuits from being brought against the church while it reorganizes its finances and would combine the hundreds of plaintiffs into a single group, the paper said.

  It would also amount to an admission by the church that it was negligent in handling priests accused of sexually abusing children, and that it is liable for the claims brought against it by alleged victims, the paper said, citing one of the church sources.

  The report came as lawyers for alleged victims of Father Paul Shanley prepared to release to the public this week the archdiocese's personnel files of several priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors.

  Last week, lawyers for the archdiocese and plaintiffs' attorneys met for 4-1/2 hours at a Boston hotel to try to discuss a possible settlement of the remaining claims against the church. However, the two sides apparently made little progress toward a deal.

  The abuse scandal exploded earlier this year after files released in the case of an accused pedophile priest showed that Law and other church leaders knew about the man's behavior but instead chose to shuttle him from parish to parish.

  Law has repeatedly apologized for his handling of alleged sexually abusive priests, but has refused to step down from his post.
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  waiting

  Hello Blondie,

  Thank you so much for putting up this information. My husband, who doesn't frequent this forum, heard this news on the TV, looked up the information on news websites - but with no luck.

  I TOLD him that SOMEONE would put the information up on our forum......and (as usual) I was right. I just read it to him, btw.

  Bastard Church. The Canadian Anglican Church made good on a similar threat last year. They filed bankruptcy in a Canadian province which has molestation lawsuits against them. All they did was move all their assets to a different province.

  Thanks again.

  waiting
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  Gopher

  Yes, bastards!

  It seems like the Boston archdiocese has found themselves in between a rock and a hard place -- if they deal fairly with all their abuse victims, they will become financially unviable -- go out of business.

  So this move sounds like "screw the victims we got a church to run". I guess the Vatican won't back up the Boston archdiocese, despite their enormous financial resources. They're on their own.

  It's similar to how the Watchtower Society would probably leave individual congregations hanging if / when they get sued for sexual abuse coverups.
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  hawkaw

  All they did was move all their assets to a different province.

  They did? Interesting. I did not know that.

  This whole issue sure disgusts me to no end. As far as I am friggen well concerned - once they file under chapter 11 or 13, then ALL of the churches' assets should be given to the victims until it makes up the total that a judge has set out. And believe me, I wouldn't mind a victim to own a big church in downtown Boston or Vancouver. That otta bring in a few million dollars in a real estate transaction.

  This crap of we can't afford it blah blah blah, but yes we're really sorry you got f__ked up the a__ , or, we are sorry you got beaten with a stick until your head broke in two (but we will not admit liablity).

  Seems these Church leaders weren't saying we can't afford this when they knowingly turned a blind eye, let these monsters lose and didn't tell anybody.

  The one thing I can't understand is why oh why can't these lawyers link the Boston coporation of the Catholic Church with other companies throughout the USA and the Vatican City Corporation.

  But, these cases should show you guys how you get to the Watchtower to change their ways and polices. Really good press and lawsuits can really leave a mark to the point of throwing them into bankruptcy.

  hawk

  Edited by - hawkaw on 2 December 2002 9:47:42
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  Yerusalyim

  The report came as lawyers for alleged victims of Father Paul Shanley prepared to release to the public this week the archdiocese's personnel files of several priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors.

  There in lies part of the problem I think. Many of these priests are only "accused" not convicted. Fr Shanley should rot in hell, but what of the priests who have been falsely accused? We ruin their reputations and the ability to minister in the future? I personally know two priests who were "accused" about 10 years ago...the person making the allegations recanted and was later shown to be trying to get money out of the church. When these priests were accused it was front page news in the local papers. The story of them being cleared was buried DEEP inside the paper. Their ministries were ruined, COMPLETELY. One is no longer active as a priest and the other (an orders priest so he has no one diocese) is ministering in a northern state.

  ALL accusations should go to the police. The church, especially the Church in Boston, does need to pay for it's wrong doings, but is bankrupting a diocese the right thing to do? What of the social service ministry that will fold due to lack of funding?

  I do wish though, that Cardinal Law would be brought up on RICO charges.
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  TresHappy

  UGH!
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  waiting

  Hey Hawk,

  Approx. 1 to 1.5 yrs ago, the Anglican Church in one of the provinces (is that what you call your different territories?) was sued mightily by the grown (and maybe kids) previous Indian students that went to government supported schools run by Anglican personnel.

  The kids were systematically beaten & sexually abused - and sued later the Anglican Church and the Canadian Government. Finally, the sued part of the Anglican Church moved their assets to another province where it was a sole entitity.

  Thus, the sued part of the Anglican Church had no assets, claiming bankruptcy. Don't know what the Canadian Government did about their part. But the Anglican Church is alive and presumably well in other parts of Canada.

  The Anglicans did business like any other corporation - and it's what the Boston Roman Catholic Church will do also, imho.

  In other words.....the victims were screwed back then - and again now.

  But, these cases should show you guys how you get to the Watchtower to change their ways and polices. Really good press and lawsuits can really leave a mark to the point of throwing them into bankruptcy. -hawk

  Excellent point.

  waiting

  ps: I know it was discussed, either here and/or on H20. Will try to find it & the news article.
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  bluesapphire

  waiting, I don't know why but I remember that Anglican Church story being in a Watchtower. It had an Anglican priest in front of a big cathedral. Do you remember it? I remember at the time thinking, "yeah right .... I'm sure this is REALLY accurate." That was because I saw nothing in the papers. But I could be wrong. I really want to see it in the papers if it was in any.

  Yeru, you know more about this than I do but I didn't know each parish was owned by the diocese. I thought the parishes were financially independent and only once a year during the Bishop's appeal they made a donation to the diocese. In this case, suing the diocese will not shut down any local parishes. Could you answer this for me? Also, I think that it's time people donate directly to the charities and social causes. Rather than send a check to my bishop I send it to Catholic Charities directly. I couldn't care less about the Bishop's appeal and if the diocese were to go down along with the bishop then so be it. (Unless it owns the parishes and then I think tha'ts sad.)

  Hawk, while I find this disgusting myself and hope Law is prosecuted under RICO laws too, along with any bishop anywhere guilty of the same doing, I am also aware of the existence of priests who were wrongly accused by people who saw an opportunity to extort a large sum of money. Also, if a Bishop moved a pedophile priest to another parish, the pope or the vatican doesn't have anything to do with that. So why should they be held accountable? If it happened in the Vatican, then I say hold it accountable. But why should they be accountable for the independent decisions made by an independent diocese? It's not like the Watchtower, where it can be proven that Crooklyn is running the show and telling the elders exactly what to do. In comparison, let's say there was a teacher who was accused of child molestation and the district moved that teacher from one school to another within the district for years. Well in a suit it should be the district that pays, not the Superintendent of the entire County.

  Personally, since Law is so arrogant that he refuses to give up his diocese, I hope he is made to pay for all he has done! I would not cry one bit if he were put in jail. And that goes for any other bishop! And I think that's the attitude of most Catholics nowadays.
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  Yerusalyim

  The Bishop holds the deed for all property in the Diocese, including the local parish. The local parish is still financially responsible for itself, but the Bishop holds the deed. This came about in the mid 1800's because of Byzantine Rite Catholics switching over to the Orthodox Church enmass taking the church building with them.

  While one of the Bishop's biggest money getters is the Diocesen Service Appeal once a year, there is also a small tax on each local parish, it isn't much, less than 3% in most dioceses, but this is also a source of revenue for the diocese.

  It is more than conceivable that if a diocese were sued that local parishes could end up being awarded since the Bishop is the technical owner.
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  hawkaw

  Hold on blue in your thoughts ...

  Also, if a Bishop moved a pedophile priest to another parish, the pope or the vatican doesn't have anything to do with that. So why should they be held accountable? If it happened in the Vatican, then I say hold it accountable. But why should they be accountable for the independent decisions made by an independent diocese?

  I think, yes they are all separate corporations and you are right most of the time. But if any of them knew about the problems and authorized something to be done or put a policy in place (ie. became a player in the cover up) then the lawyers can go after each of the corporations and thre men who run them. Quite frankly this is a huge mess. Huge messes mean people at the very top had to make a decision. Of course getting to the paper work and finding witnesses at the top is sometimes hard to prove.

  I believe there is one lawyer in the Beantown area who is trying to connect the Vatican's Corporation to this mess.

  hawk