According to a February 28, 2007 story in the Chicago Sun-Times, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego planned to file for bankruptcy in order to delay going to trial in more than 140 cases involving allegations of sexual abuse. According to Bishop Robert Bron, the decision was made to go forward with a bankruptcy because any damages awarded might "...deplete Diocesan and insurance resources leaving nothing for other victims." According to attorneys for the Diocese, the plan was to file for Bankruptcy in the late evening hours, just before the very first trial got underway. That filing would then halt any legal proceedings.
Attorneys for the abuse victims, however, interpreted the move differently. They feel the bankruptcy filing was simply a tactic to keep potentiallly embarassing information from seeing the light of day in a courtroom
I have to side with counsel for the plaintiffs here. The church has known the number and types of claims it faced for years. Why didn't they file for Bankruptcy protection long ago if they were so worried about other victims? The more likely scenario is much simpler - the Church figured that it could resolve the cases and keep the scandalous allegations from becoming public. When the settlements didn't go through, the Church had to file Bankruptcy. The very last thing the Church wants is to have a jury hearing evidence about how priests repeatedly abused children, and the Church simply looked the other way. The Catholic Church has always been good at passing judgment on society. It appears however, the Church will go to extraordinary lengths to avoid society passing judgment upon it.
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