USA: Archdiocese of San Francisco Files for Bankruptcy Over Hundreds of Abuse Lawsuits

The Archdiocese of San Francisco (USA.)in the state of California, filed for bankruptcy to face the more than 500 child sexual abuse lawsuits that have been filed against him.

“The unfortunate reality is that the archdiocese does not have the financial means or practical capacity to litigate all of these abuse claims individually.”San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a statement.

The numerous formal complaints against priests and members of the archdiocese were filed last year, thanks to a law passed by the state legislature that allowed cases of alleged abuse to be brought to light no matter how long ago they occurred.

By filing for bankruptcy, the statement said, the archdiocese can freeze all legal proceedings against it until it develops a plan for the assets it has available to liquidate and address the claims of survivors of abuse.

Archdiocese employees, however, will continue to receive a salary and parishioners will continue to be served, the letter clarified.

Although many of the priests named in the lawsuits have already died, at least three of them continue to attend churches in the San Francisco area, according to an investigation by the local NBC network.

Both the archdiocese and these three priests denied the allegations, claiming that an internal investigation found that the allegations “they did not hold up”.

Archbishop Cordileone, however, is the only one in the state of California who has not wanted to publish a list of priests in his archdiocese who have been accused of sexual abuse, according to local media reports.

Source: EFE