FRESNO (CA)
KGET - NBC 17 [Bakersfield CA]
May 31, 2024
By Robert Price
The Catholic Diocese of Fresno, facing 154 claims of abuse by its clergy over past decades, said on Tuesday it will file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection.
The bankruptcy filing, set for August, was prompted by a recently enacted state law that allows those previously barred by the passage of time from bringing forward claims of abuse suffered as children to now do so.
The bankruptcy filing would bring about a court-supervised reorganization that would compensate victims fairly, according to Bishop Joseph Brennan.
Kern County Catholic parishes operate under the auspices of the Fresno Diocese.
Brennan issued a video statement explaining the decision, which comes on the heels of bankruptcy announcements by the dioceses of Santa Rosa, San Francisco, Sacramento and Oakland. Combined, those four dioceses face roughly 1,000 new claims of abuse, many going back decades.The Vatican’s problematic process to address clergy sex abuse cases, explained
“Filing for Chapter 11 will allow us to address the substantial number of claims brought forth by victims collectively,” Brennan said in a prepared video statement, “and it will allow us to address those claims honestly, compassionately and equitably.”
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said these bankruptcies have not changed the landscape of abuse in the church.
“Despite persistent claims from Church officials that child sexual abuse in Catholic institutions as a ‘thing of the past’,” SNAP said in a prepared statement, “this year SNAP has seen, on average, at least four news reports per month about the arrest of clergy or staffers for sexual abuse or misconduct.”In the US, Black survivors are nearly invisible in the Catholic clergy sexual abuse crisis
The Fresno Diocese said the bankruptcy would allow schools, parishes, and organizations operated by the Diocese of Fresno to continue uninterrupted.
Four Bakersfield parishes – St. Phillips, St. Francis, St. Elizabeth and Christ the King – either declined to comment on how the diocese bankruptcy would affect the day to day operation of their individual churches, or they did not return calls by air time.