San Francisco’s Roman Catholic Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy Monday, saying the filing is necessary to manage more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by church officials.
The Chapter 11 protection filing will stop all legal actions against the Archdiocese and thus allow it to develop a settlement plan with abuse survivors, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a statement.
“The unfortunate reality is that the Archdiocese has neither the financial means nor the practical ability to litigate all of these abuse claims individually, and therefore, after much consideration, concluded that the bankruptcy process was the best solution for providing fair and equitable compensation to the innocent survivors who have been harmed,” Cordileone said.
Individual parishes will continue to offer Mass and other religious services to the faithful, Cordileone added. “Our parishes, schools, and other entities are not included in the filing,” he wrote. “Catholic Charities, Catholic cemeteries, and St. Patrick’s Seminary & University will continue their operations as usual.”