By Sue Nowicki
snowicki@modbee.comJanuary 13, 2014
The Stockton Diocese announced Monday afternoon it will file Wednesday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The move affects only the diocesan budget and property and will not have an impact on the individually incorporated parishes or ministries, Bishop Stephen Blaire said. The creditors, mostly victims of sexual abuse by priests, are expected to challenge that statement.
The Stockton Diocese becomes the 10th in the country and the second in the state to move under the protection of the bankruptcy court. The action was taken to reduce the amount of money the diocese must pay in civil cases involving priests and sexual-abuse victims. It also will put a time limit on filing any new lawsuits concerning past sexual abuse. But in an interview with The Bee on Monday afternoon, Blaire said he wasn’t trying to hide assets or blame the legal action on the abuse victims, some of whom have received multimillion-dollar awards.
“Very simply, we are in this situation because of those priests in our diocese who perpetrated grave, evil acts of child sexual abuse,” he said. “We can never forget that these evil acts, not the victims of the abuse, are responsible
Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/2014/01/13/3132755/stockton-catholic-diocese-to-file.html#storylink=cpy
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