CALIFORNIA
Manteca Bulletin
By Rose Albano Risso
City Editor ralbanorisso@mantecabulletin.com 209-249-3536
POSTED September 18, 2014
The Diocese of Stockton received 34 claims of sexual abuse in the three months prior to the Aug. 15 submission deadline related to the filing of bankruptcy protection by the diocese.
The Chapter 11 reorganization process is continuing right on schedule, said Sr. Terry Davis, Director of Communications for the Diocese, in a statement sent out to media outlets. The nearly three-dozen abuse claims that were filed do not identify any priest currently in active ministry, she reported.
The Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection was described by Bishop Stephen Blaire earlier this year as “the only way we can fulfill our responsibilities to the victims of sexual abuse and our responsibilities to the parishes and communities we served.” It was a “painful but necessary decision,” he added, and that it came only after months of “careful consideration, consultation and prayer.”
The key to the bankruptcy proceeding is to determine exactly what claims the Diocese will face which will enable the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California to distribute the remaining assets of the diocese as fairly as possible, explained Davis at that time.
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