CALIFORNIA
Reuters
By Ronnie Cohen
SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Sep 13, 2013
(Reuters) – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton, California, is contemplating filing for bankruptcy protection after nearly depleting church funds available to settle sex-abuse claims brought against its clergy, the bishop said on Friday.
The diocese, comprising 250,000 parishioners from California’s Central Valley, is in line to become the 10th U.S. Catholic district to file for Chapter 11 reorganization under the weight of child molestation cases against priests.
“We have exhausted our resources,” Bishop Stephen Blaire told Reuters. “We face three lawsuits and a potential fourth. We have really no money at this time to provide any kind of compensation.”
Child sex-abuse litigation has cost the U.S. Catholic Church some $3 billion in settlements since the scandal surfaced in Boston in 1992 and has driven eight dioceses into bankruptcy since 2004. The diocese of Gallup, New Mexico, has said it plans to become the ninth to file for bankruptcy later this month.
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