“Chapter 11 is not supposed to be a vehicle, a method, to hammer down the claims of those abused.”
JUDGE LOUISE DeCARL ADLER
on the diocese filing for bankruptcy
JUDGE LOUISE DeCARL ADLER
on the diocese filing for bankruptcy
Posted on 11/03/2007 7:05:59 AM PDT by NYer
The San Diego Catholic diocese's eight-month-old bankruptcy case drew to an emotional close yesterday with the judge shedding tears and scolding the church for being “disingenuous” in reporting its finances to parishioners as part of a campaign to fund a $198 million settlement with victims of sexual abuse.
“Chapter 11 is not supposed to be a vehicle, a method, to hammer down the claims of those abused.”
JUDGE LOUISE DeCARL ADLER on the diocese filing for bankruptcy |
Judge Louise DeCarl Adler said she had planned to grant the diocese's request to dismiss the bankruptcy without comment. But then she got a packet in the mail from her former parish asking to help pay the settlement.
The mailing, which was recently sent to parishioners in the diocese, included a financial breakdown she said was less than candid.
Adler said there is ample property the church could sell or mortgage to fund the settlement, citing parking lots, houses and other holdings listed in court documents.
The diocese could have settled the claims without seeking bankruptcy, she added. “Chapter 11 is not supposed to be a vehicle, a method, to hammer down the claims of those abused,” she said.
Moments before delivering her rebuke yesterday, Adler was moved to tears by several victims who stepped forward to thank her for her work.
Rodrigo Valdivia, a diocese spokesman, said church officials were disappointed by Adler's comments and called the financial breakdown accurate. “It is not disingenuous,” he said.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego filed its Chapter 11 case Feb. 27, hours before the first abuse trial was to start. Bishop Robert Brom said bankruptcy protection was needed to continue the church's work while trying to compensate men and women sexually abused by priests and church workers when they were minors.
|
“The diocese had enough assets to pay the fair settlement value of the claims,” he said.
The diocese settled outside bankruptcy court Sept. 7, agreeing to pay $198 million to 144 victims. Under the settlement, the payouts would be made in two installments next year.
Last month, the diocese launched Embracing Our Mission, a campaign to raise $25 million from Catholics in San Diego and Imperial counties to help pay for the settlement.
Adler does not object to Catholics being asked to contribute. “I think it's a good thing to do,” she said. But she said she was troubled that the financial breakdown was “lacking candor.”
An analysis by The San Diego Union-Tribune found the Roman Catholic bishop of San Diego holds title to more than 420 properties in the county. The bishop is also listed on dozens of other properties in Imperial and other counties.
In its battle through bankruptcy court, the diocese insisted that the 98 parishes were separate and could not be counted as assets, though the point was never resolved.
|
The other half includes vacant residential parcels, single-family residences, multiple-unit buildings, condominiums, vacant parcels zoned for commercial or industrial use, stores and parking lots.
The bulk of the assets that are not churches, schools or cemetery property is assessed at about $115 million by the San Diego County Assessor's Office.
But that is only a fraction of the properties' market value, said Gary London, a San Diego real-estate economist.
“The market here doubled in the 1980s and has doubled again in the past seven years. So you can multiply many of these assessed values by a factor of at least four to get the fair market value,” he said.
Applying that multiplier, London said, the diocese “conservatively holds properties (in San Diego County) with a market value well in excess of $1 billion.”
“(Church officials) can easily get loans against these assets to satisfy this settlement,” London said.
A statement from the diocese yesterday defended the Embracing Our Mission campaign.
“It is based on an accurate analysis of actual diocesan assets without confusing these with assets that do not belong to the diocese,” said a statement sent to pastors and church staff.
San Diego is the fifth and largest diocese in the nation to declare bankruptcy. None of the others has asked parishioners and priests to directly contribute to settlements of sexual-abuse cases, said Charles Zech, an economics professor who has followed the clergy-abuse crisis from Villanova University, a Catholic school near Philadelphia.
However, in the Tucson and Spokane, Wash., bankruptcy settlements, Zech said, parishes were required to contribute and it was up to each to decide how to raise the money.
Zech, who noted that selling property other than churches, schools and cemeteries is “the first thing the diocese should do,” has polled 1,000 Catholics nationwide who regularly attend Mass about their willingness to fund abuse settlements.
His most recent poll, in 2005, found that 44 percent favored a diocesanwide collection like that proposed by Brom; 38 percent preferred a sale of church property; and 33 percent backed cuts in programs to make up the shortfall after insurance funds are exhausted.
Ping
Thought=Though
Slipped through the cracks? In what way? A central authority didn't prevent the problem from happening in the Catholic church.
The worst abuse, however, is to be found in the nation's public schools.
If you're talking about perps unrelated to the victims, you're probably correct, but I think abuse by a family member is the most common.
We live in a society where sex permeates every aspect of our lives - from commercials to the silver screen and the internet. Is it any wonder that some deviants seek it out where children are most often found and great trust is shown by unsuspecting parents?
"Dirty old men" have been around almost as long as there have been children to take advantage of, but yeah, I think our over sexualized society is making abuse more common.
I understand your position. But the article says that
Half of the properties are listed as churches, “church parking, or related,” cemetery properties and public buildings/schools.
So the Diocese is hiding assets that are NOT essential to churches. Why can't the diocese sell those?
The only word that comes to my mind is CHUTZPA when the Churches plead poverty and ask for the parishioners to help pay for the cost of mismanaging and fudging the pedophile priest crisis.
I mean good lord, 144 kids? How do you ignore something like that and let it go on for so long?
???
They have a $198 million dollar settlement to pay. They have $115 million in properties that can potentially be sold without impacting parishes. Looks like an $83 million shortfall to me, hence the bankruptcy.
>Before the finger pointing begins, let’s make certain we remember.
>Report: Protestant Church Insurers Handle 260 Sex Abuse Cases a Year
Agreed. There are sinners everywhere, in all denominations. The big question is, when discovered, is the church involved in covering it up, shuttling the pastor/priest into another church/parish without a good investigation, allowing the pastor/priest to continue his hellish abuse under the protection of said church?
IF the RCC just dropped the boom on the pedophile priests, after a thorough investigation, I would have to say that the RCC was doing it’s job in maintaining discipline. (It would still have to settle, as this is not a nation ran with Christian values at the center anymore.)
Rather, what happened was coverups. When you can show any church doing that, it is not a good sign of its guidance by the Spirit, but rather a political bent on keeping all the dirt under the carpet, at the expense of the hearts and pain of Christians.
Yes, I am sure that there are Protestant churches that do the same, and I see them all not following Christian principles, as the RCC authorities didn’t in this instance. I will protest them when I see them.
"The bulk of the assets that are not churches, schools or cemetery property is assessed at about $115 million by the San Diego County Assessor's Office.
But that is only a fraction of the properties' market value, said Gary London, a San Diego real-estate economist.
“The market here doubled in the 1980s and has doubled again in the past seven years. So you can multiply many of these assessed values by a factor of at least four to get the fair market value,” he said.
Applying that multiplier, London said, the diocese “conservatively holds properties (in San Diego County) with a market value well in excess of $1 billion.”
“(Church officials) can easily get loans against these assets to satisfy this settlement,” London said.
I love you, my brother.
The Peace of the Lord, which passeth all understanding be with you and all those whom you love.
Maybe you could give them indulgences instead...... yeah that's the ticket
RICO come to mind......ongoing organized effort to cover criminal conspiracy.
Brom himself was accused of hanky panky with seminarians at a seminary in Winona, Minnesota and seems to have been very much a part of the problem he's now trying to clean up.
I am not sure what to think about Cardinal Bernardin (personally not a fan), but I will say that the Bishop of San Diego brought this upon themselves. There is a reason that St. Augustine said that the “Road to hell is paved with the skulls of Bishops.” We have had some seriously bad leaders who have allowed such a shameful act to occur. We will be paying for it for a long time after.
.
An average of 200 pedo priests per diocese...and each pedo molests an average of 200 children in his lifetime.
And it’s still going on....
Database of accused priests:
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/
Check out your own Diocese. You will be shocked.
Keep reading the article... You missed this part:
“The market here doubled in the 1980s and has doubled again in the past seven years. So you can multiply many of these assessed values by a factor of at least four to get the fair market value,” he said.
Applying that multiplier, London said, the diocese “conservatively holds properties (in San Diego County) with a market value well in excess of $1 billion.”
“(Church officials) can easily get loans against these assets to satisfy this settlement,” London said.
You beat me to it. Thanks for posting...
I wouldn't go that far but I absolutely understand your position.
I think the top tier management of the Catholic Church (The Vatican) was blindsided by the pedophile priests crisis. You have Bishop/Cardinal Mahony and others actively trying to suppress the problem instead of dealing with it right away like firing the creeps and having them deported.
Many times, it was never a question of whether or not a lot of these priests molested kids... I know of one case when just about everyone knew about ex-father O'Grady's dirty secrets and chose to look the other way. One Father was so shocked with the cover-up, he left the Church to become an attorney.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.