Judge Lets Suit Against Dioceses Proceed

Hundreds of men and women who say they were molested by priests as children got their first day in court Thursday as they seek millions of dollars from Catholic dioceses in Northern California.

The case is one of three consolidated lawsuits involving about 1,000 people in California and one of hundreds nationwide in which the church is accused of looking the other way while priests molested young worshipers.

The first day of the Northern California case comes a week after the Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., said it was declaring bankruptcy after settling 130 abuse claims and paying $53 million.

Lawyers for the church and for the California claimants met before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw, who tentatively ruled that six of the cases could proceed.

Unless there are settlements, the pretrial stage of the consolidated case could drag on for months as the judge considers motions for dismissal.

The three consolidated suits are being brought under a 2002 California law that extended the statute of limitations to allow alleged victims to file claims against the church by Dec. 31, 2003. In some cases, the alleged abuse occurred decades ago.

The judge also tentatively ruled the law was constitutional. “The Legislature has the discretion to determine the appropriate statute of limitations for civil claims,” the judge said.

The validity of that law also is being challenged in federal court by the Los Angeles Archdiocese, while it is trying to settle more than 500 cases made possible by the law in a separate consolidated case in Los Angeles County.

Stephen McFeely, a church lawyer, sought to get five cases dismissed, arguing that the church cannot defend itself because the priests are dead and the church should be immune from those suits because it did not know about the abuse.