The Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, says it will file for bankruptcy. The Tucson diocese has already been making noise about this. Evidently they’ve learned from Boston where the threat of bankruptcy drove the lawyers to the bargaining table. What’s happened is that everything was paid out to the first lawsuits and now that everyone else is coming out of the woodwork, there’s nothing left. At least Boston had very valuable land to sell, but these other dioceses may not have even that.
So what does this mean? It’s not certain since no diocese has ever filed for bankruptcy protection, but it could mean that parishes will be closed and sold off to pay creditors. Once again, it means that parishioners suffer because of the bad actions of their bishops. All of those nickels and dimes donated over years and years by ordinary Catholics are going to pay lawyers and give millions to abuse victims who will never be healed because of the money they receive.
