Posted on 02/21/2020 6:44:05 PM PST by marshmallow
HARRISBURG — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, becoming the first diocese in the state to seek protection from financial claims in the aftermath of a 2018 grand jury report that revealed decades of sexual abuse and cover-up by the church’s top leaders.
And, said a lawyer for the diocese, it’s not likely to be the last.
Citing the fallout from that probe and recent court decisions that opened new avenues for some victims with time-barred claims to sue, attorney Matt Haverstick said Harrisburg, like each of the state’s eight other Catholic dioceses, faces the prospect of crushing court judgments that it will be unable to pay.
“There is no capacity to take that kind of exposure,” Haverstick said in an interview with The Inquirer and Spotlight PA. “I think this is really the beginning — not just in Pennsylvania but across the country — of a wave of reorganizations spawned by … the economics of trying to maintain an organization in the face of catastrophic litigation.”
With its filing Wednesday, the Harrisburg Diocese joins more than two dozen others across the United States that have sought similar bankruptcy protections since the clergy sex-abuse scandal first exploded in Boston 18 years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at inquirer.com ...
Following Buffalo and Rochester.
Bump
Maybe the Church can downsize and emerge a leaner and more effective organization?
The Church would do well to purge itself of homosexual priests first.
What exactly happens? Do surrounding dioceses assume power over the churches of this diocese? Must the debts be settled first, then if anything is left over, the surrounding dioceses can take over?
As predicted. Though I take little pleasure in it for the sake of the honest decent Catholic parishoner. The truth was bound to come out. But when the problem reared its head years ago the higher ups tried to cover it up instead of turning the miscreants over to the civil authorities. The cover up ends up being wors than the crime.
dioceses cover a very large area. I would imagine Harrisburg would probably cover most of the middle of the state. Philly and Pittsburg will soon follow into bankruptcy. Sadly their cemeteries will turn to overgrown brush with trash filling in and all their historic churches will be torn down or bought by much smaller prod churches and without expensive maintenance then fall down. The homoes have destroyed the Catholic church.
This is a huge boon for the trial lawyers. It's their new tobacco industry.
I don’t trivialize what the Catholic Church has done but I will say this is how the left destroys Western Civilization with the lawyer. The lawsuit is a great weapon to suck the lifeblood (money) out of any organization. The Boys Scouts (or whatever they are called now) is officially bankrupt.
Whenever a priest was accused of abuse, the diocese would follow the advice of psychiatrists and psychologists whom they trusted who claimed these priests could be rehabilitated. Therefore they would disappear to a seminary for treatment which church officials called “contemplation.” Except it didn’t work...because therapy rarely changes homosexuals.
After these priests were returned to active ministry, they re-offended. Big surprise to no one except diocesan officials. I sincerely doubt these officials had a nefarious goal as they mishandled this debacle, but instead were naive and misguided by behavioral health professionals.
many priests are dead or near dead and can't defend themselves.....
I think what has happened is that indeed there is a gay cabal and they have basically thrown the church to the wolves to protect themselves.....
Satan at work....not only with the gay priests and bishops wink wink and a nod infiltration of the church, but the horrible lack of LEADERSHIP from the pope on down.....
I think now Catholics should form their own churches that they control and pay for and invite priests to come on Sundays....maintain the liturgy and follow Catholic doctrine on their own, until the once mighty sacred church arises...
All the while the homosexual community rapes young boys, this society allows doctors to castrate boys under the guide of “transitioning them to girls” and our society allows women to murder babies. All with zero legal consequence.
The items above are just the modern day version of Jim Crow laws or the classic ‘slaves are considered 3/5s of a person’ for the census.
People really are just evil. The only question is what evil wins. Seems the leftist’s version of evil is winning. I am sure I could write a few hundred more examples. But of course, only the Catholic Church is targeted.
JoMa
Actually it limits the amounts the victims can seek; the Boy Scouts were attacked for declaring bankruptcy for exactly that reason.
They aren’t going out of business; they simply capped the amount of assets that can be attached in the courts.
God is not mocked. The Roman Catholic church is reaping what it has sown. There is no justification or defense for men who prey on children or for the organization that shields those monsters! We need to hold the RC church responsible for the crimes of its clergy - from the Pope down - from Rome to Harrisburg. Hanging is too good for these perverted criminals.
The Roman Catholic church is fabulously wealth in art and treasure. I'm surprised that lawyers and prosecutors stop at the dioceses border when pursuing justice. Lawyers and prosecutors need to extract justice from the Pope down, not just the dioceses. All those involved in these crime through omission or commission need to be held accountable for all the pain and suffering caused to young children through many generations.
A fish rots from the head down! It's time to throw the rotten fish in the trash.
Still laughing after that one!
That's called "the law". If you were being sued, would you be okay with the law going after your parents, your children, your children's friends, your employer, your teachers, and everyone else who had any association with you? Of course not.
Why anyone would remain in a pervert infested church
Every church out there is full of sinners, and is run by sinners. Evangelicals usually claim "all sins are equally bad," but that idea gets tossed out the window when they can spit at the Catholic church, doesn't it.
I'm a Catholic and will remain a Catholic for one reason only: it's the church founded directly by Jesus Christ on the rock of blessed Peter. I trust in Him.
Once again, the insidious hand of the pseudosciences... Mental Health Quacks, is behind the evil. It’s no coincidence that every mass shooter and family killer was seeing shrinks before their rampage. The shrinks create them because it’s profitable.
If my parents, children or associates are complicit or protect the criminal - then under the law they are liable to criminal and or civil prosecution.
"It's the church founded directly by Jesus Christ on the rock of blessed Peter. I trust in Him."
I would direct you to read:
https://www.christian-history.org/roman-catholic-one-true-church.html
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