For Portland Catholics, Sadness and Suspicion Follow Bankruptcy Filing

A day after the Archdiocese of Portland filed for bankruptcy, it was the talk of the Catholic community here Wednesday -- with some churchgoers expressing sadness and others questioning the motives of alleged abuse victims and their lawyers.

Some condemned the archdiocese for “sidestepping” its responsibility in compensating victims of clerical sexual abuse.

Still others weren’t sure how the filing would affect the day-to-day operations of the 356,000-member archdiocese.

“Most of us are still trying to figure out what it means,” said Greg Markey, manager of a lay-owned Catholic radio station in Portland, KBVM-FM. “How will this affect the parishes? And how will it affect the people in the positions of power? I don’t think anybody really knows how it will play out.”

Markey said most of the talk he had heard in the community seemed to be sympathetic -- if reluctantly so -- toward the archdiocese’s decision.

“If they don’t have the money, what are they supposed to do?” he said.

Theresa Willett, who has been a parishioner at All Saints in northeast Portland since 1978, said the decision seemed “practical, rational and even compassionate” because it took into account the needs of the entire church, and not just victims of priest abuse.

“The church has to balance its need to compensate victims with the need to go on with its work in the world,” Willett said. “I’m just really so sad that it had to come to this. I never thought it would. I find myself asking: ‘When will this all end?’ ”

The Portland Archdiocese was the first in the nation to seek bankruptcy protection against millions of dollars in potential sexual abuse claims. Dozens of the 195 dioceses nationwide have considered similar filings, including those in Boston and Dallas.

Portland’s archbishop, John G. Vlazny, announced the decision Tuesday in a letter to parishes. At a news conference, he told reporters: “The pot of gold is pretty much empty right now,” referring to the church’s financial situation.

The Chapter 11 filing halted the trial of a lawsuit against the late Father Maurice Grammond, who was accused of molesting more than 50 boys in the 1980s. Grammond died in 2002. Plaintiffs in two lawsuits involving Grammond have sought a total of $155 million.

The archdiocese and its insurers have paid more than $53 million over the last four years to settle claims from alleged victims of priest abuse.

“This is just another attempt to sidestep their responsibility with their arrogance,” said Bill Crane, referring to the bankruptcy filing.

Crane heads the Oregon chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. Crane has said that he was abused by a priest when he was a child.

“The bottom line is, they just don’t get it,” said Crane, who was convinced that the archdiocese made “a sober, educated decision to take a path that is most advantageous to itself.”

Plaintiffs’ attorney David Slader called Vlazny a liar for claiming the archdiocese was out of money. Slader said it owned more than $500 million in tax-assessed properties and had many investments.

The archdiocese, Slader said, is “one of the wealthiest corporations in Oregon.”

But many Catholics, including Markey and Willett, expressed suspicion about the motives of some of the plaintiffs and their lawyers. Longtime church member Adrienne Hoggans put it this way: “It does seem like some of them are trying to take advantage of that pot of gold.”

Hoggans heads an organization called the African American Catholic Community of Oregon, representing about 250 members. Hoggans says she supports the bankruptcy filing and that the church “has to do what it has to do to survive.”

Hoggans, Markey and Willett said they felt bad for the victims of priest abuse, and acknowledged that such abuse happened.

“I don’t know anybody who’s unsympathetic to the victims,” Markey said. “People want justice. We all want justice. Whether that justice involves huge financial settlements that bankrupts the church and benefits the lawyers, that’s another question.”

Father Thomas Farley, pastor of St. Clare’s in southwest Portland, said he too was “deeply saddened” by news of the bankruptcy. But he intends to continue doing his work as a priest.

“It’s out of my control,” Farley said. “I’m here ministering to people, and I will continue ministering to people. The mission we had yesterday as a parish is the same today, which is to share and celebrate the transforming power of God’s love.”

Farley said the bankruptcy was another in a long list of embarrassments related to the priest abuse scandal, which surfaced in 2002 in Boston and spread throughout the nation. But in the long run, he said, the church could benefit.

“Embarrassment can lead to a critique of the inner self. It could lead to self-discovery,” he said.

Hoggans said the priest abuse scandal and its after-effects had been God’s way of “cleaning out his church.”

“If this is what needs to happen, then it needs to happen. God wants a clean church. I have no doubt the church will survive,” Hoggans said.