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San Diego diocese files for bankruptcy over lawsuits

A fifth US Catholic diocese caught up in a pedophilia scandal has filed for bankruptcy after failing to settle up to US$200 million in claims by victims of sex abuse by priests.

"We put money on the table that would have stretched our financial capability to the limit, but demands were made which exceeded the financial resources of both the diocese and our insurance carrier," San Diego Bishop Robert Brom said in a statement released on Tuesday.

Bankruptcy was the "best way available for us to compensate all of the victims as fairly and equitably as our resources will allow," he added.

More than 150 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse within the San Diego diocese in California were filed in 2003.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has protested the church's move as "morally bankrupt" saying the cases should go to trial.

In a statement the group's regional director Mary Grant denounced Brom as "a self-serving bishop who's afraid to face tough questions about coddling and concealing pedophile priests."

But Brom denied the move for bankruptcy protection was "a cop-out," pledging the names of the accused would be released if the charges against them were upheld and that the church would "verify that no known abuser is functioning in our ministry."

The church had decided not to pursue the cases through the courts because "of the length of time the process could take and, more importantly, because early trial judgments in favor of some victims could so deplete diocesan and insurance resources that there would be nothing left for other victims," he said.
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