Reap:Sow
The archdiocese of Portland, OR is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the weight of $160M in lawsuits over child molestation by priests.
Bad idea, I think. Back at the height of its own scandal, the Boston AD considered doing the same, but chose not to for two good reasons: 1) everyone gets to see your private records, and 2) just how is it gonna look when plaintiffs in child abuse suits have to go to the back of the line of creditors? Will that make you seem more, or less concerned with the well-being of your congregation and Church?
Ugly, ugly, ugly.
Posted by
Johno
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You know, I would've thought
You know, I would've thought that the Church still was counting $$ taken in the Crusades.
What do you think about a Papal casino?
I'm going to have to say that
I'm going to have to say that even letting the Church file for bankruptcy is a BAD idea. What happened to separation of church and state? If you control the purse strings, you control the church... What if the bankruptcy trustee says. "wafers are expensive, use wonder bread instead." OMG. The thought of that just sickens me. Oy. Can you imagine if the liquidated all the artistic assets of the diocese? Or sold off all the gold chalices. I'm going to puke at the thought of this horrible desecration.
Yes, Johno, the plaintiffs queue up, but because the judgement came in their favor before the filing, they get no preferential or non-preferential treatment. They just get a share proportionate to the debt owed them, like every other creditor gets.
Email me directly and I can tell you some of the ins and outs of filing bankruptcy. It can be really ugly. It can be okay, depends on the level of insolvency and what is owed. This filing isn't going to shield them from lawsuit payouts, as long as the suit's judgement has already been made.
I wonder what they will do with stuff like retirement funds for the nuns, etc. Is that controlled at the diocesean level? You guys realize that priests in certain orders can retain their wealth, but that ALL nuns take a vow of poverty?
Seriously, this is the
Seriously, this is the richest organization on the face of the planet, you'd think they could pay their bloody debts. Who knows, it might even teach them to deal with pedophilic priests instead of just shuffling them around and hoping nothing else happens(which is right up there with gambling your way out of gambling debts on the list of rational things to do).
The NPR story said that
The NPR story said that usually other archdioceses will bail out others, regionally, but because all US dioceses are being sued, no one has money to help each other out. So, while it's still the richest global org, the segmentation of it means that each little part can go bust without bankrupting Rome.
I have a hard time with this. I love art and I have been to the Vatican Museums twice. The collections are moving and worthwhile, but then again, can they auction a few off? The pragmatic side of me says something can be done here. It's not like I'm asking the man in the tall hat to ordain women...