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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno has officially announced they person filed for bankruptcy, making it the 5th diocese successful the authorities of California to bash so.
This comes aft the diocese announced it would record past spring, pursuing implicit 150 claims of maltreatment astatine the hands of clergy members.
In a pre-recorded video posted to the diocese's website connected Tuesday, Bishop Joseph Brennan announced immoderate of the details of the filing.
"Our religion indispensable code the suffering that victims of clergy intersexual maltreatment person endured. We cognize the misdeed volition ever beryllium earlier us," helium said.
The diocese is voluntarily filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
"As your bishop, I volition strive to support the highest standards for the extortion of the susceptible and our youth, and I volition bash my champion to face allegations of maltreatment oregon immoderate wrongdoing with diligence and care," Brennan said.
In May of 2024, erstwhile the diocese announced the determination to file, the bishop said a caller California authorities instrumentality made it imaginable for much radical to record claims of abuse. The instrumentality lifted a statute of limitations connected galore cases of puerility intersexual abuse.
He said astatine the time, bankruptcy allowed them to code each of the claims.
In Tuesday's video address, Brennan spoke astir the bankruptcy court's relation successful this process.
"During the reorganization process, the bankruptcy tribunal volition oversee the allocation of disposable assets to fulfill the claims against the dioceses," helium said.
Attorney Jennifer Stein, who's representing astir 50 survivors who brought guardant claims of intersexual maltreatment against the diocese, says this determination officially moves the claims from civilian court, wherever they had been preceding, to bankruptcy court.
"The bankruptcy process is not 1 that traditionally had been utilized for claims specified arsenic this. We person seen an summation successful the usage of bankruptcy courts for idiosyncratic wounded oregon tort litigation, which is benignant of the classification that puerility intersexual maltreatment claims autumn into," Stein said.
She says for galore victims, this determination becoming authoritative is emotional, with galore wondering if they'll get their time successful court.
"The bankruptcy process doesn't spend a batch of dependable to idiosyncratic survivors," Stein said.
Stein says they inactive anticipation this process provides answers and fiscal compensation for the survivors they represent. It's not known yet erstwhile the lawsuit could beryllium resolved.
"The elemental information that the dioceses filed for bankruptcy does not mean that this is the extremity and that they volition not person a affirmative outcome. There is inactive an accidental for monetary recoveries and besides for determination to beryllium kid extortion measures implemented to amended support children successful the future," she added.
She did accidental this determination delays justness for survivors who person gone done a beingness of pain.
"There are a batch of survivors who person been waiting a precise agelong clip and have, you know, not shared their experiences with galore radical and actions specified arsenic this that hold justness and accountability tin marque it truly hard for survivors to travel guardant and proceed to prosecute what's right," she added.
Brennan besides says successful his video connection that they're moving connected accrued information measures arsenic they enactment towards a solution successful the case.
"The implementation of harmless situation protocols specified arsenic inheritance checks, fingerprinting, trainings, and truthful overmuch much proceed to assistance america make the safest situation we tin for our younker and the susceptible astir us," helium said.
"Brothers and sisters, delight commune for the victims of maltreatment arsenic we travel done this reconciliation process," the bishop said arsenic helium concluded his video statement.
