THE Catholic diocese of Wilmington, Delaware filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this week on the eve of a civil trial involving clergy sex abuse. With this bankruptcy filing, the first Catholic diocese to file in the East Coast, the Wilmington diocese joins six other dioceses, which have sought bankruptcy court protection under the weight of clergy sex abuse lawsuits leveled against the Catholic Church. Other Catholic dioceses that have filed for bankruptcy protection in the past are dioceses in San Diego, Portland, Oregon, Spokane, Washington, Tucson, Arizona, Davenport, Iowa and Fairbanks, Alaska.
Certainly, clergy sexual molestation is the work of the devil to discredit and damage the Catholic Church. The church now has a zero tolerance of sexual predators masquerading as priests. Hopefully, it will eventually rid itself of the very small minority of errant priests who have no business being men of the cloth and give the majority of holy men who are truly ministers of Christ in this world a bad name.
The diocese of Wilmington lists $100 million of assets and as much as $500 million of liabilities. These liabilities include potential damages from pending clergy sexual abuse lawsuits. The diocese has been plagued by sexual abuse cases since the eighties. Since then the diocese has settled 19 cases out of court. Recent settlements by the diocese paid an average compensation to victims of $1.3 million each. Insurance paid a portion of the settlement amounts. However, more than 175 cases involving at least 190 plaintiffs have been filed in Superior Court with the diocese of Wilmington named as defendant in 131 cases. Thus, the diocese faces a very large potential liability for all of these lawsuits.
The morality of seeking bankruptcy relief has been rendered moot by these bankruptcy filings by the Catholic Church in the last two decades. Before these bankruptcy filings, there were always clients who asked me if it was morally correct to file for bankruptcy.
When faced with the question of morality, I refer them to the fact that even the Catholic Church knocks on the door of bankruptcy court when push comes to shove. Thus ending any dispute as to the morality of seeking bankruptcy relief. Still there are those who believe that their morality is higher than that of the Catholic Church. These are those who decide to kill themselves rather than file for bankruptcy relief.
I assure you, it is less painful for you to go to bankruptcy court with me at your side.
If you need debt relief, contact my office. I will analyze your case personally.
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Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in bankruptcy, business, real estate and civil litigation and has successfully represented more than five thousand clients in California. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 1000 S. Fremont Ave., Bldg. A-1 Suite 1125 Unit 58, Alhambra, CA 91803.
( Published October 24, 2009 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. C4 )
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