Tucson Catholic Diocese May File for Bankruptcy in Abuse Cases
Claiming plaintiffs in sexual abuse cases are demanding more money than can be offered, officials of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson said Wednesday they were considering a bankruptcy filing.
An attorney for alleged victims dismissed the talk as a tactic to gain community sympathy and delay litigation.
Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas said bankruptcy could be the only way to handle the 19 cases alleging sexual abuse by clergy pending against the diocese.
“We don’t have the money,” Kicanas said in a telephone interview from Denver, where he was attending a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting. “If we had the money, I might look at it in a different way. We don’t.”
Several U.S. dioceses hit with lawsuits in recent years have warned that they were on the verge of filing for bankruptcy, but none has done so.
On Monday, diocese attorney Barry MacBan told a Tucson judge that a federal Chapter 11 plan was already being developed. The Pima County Superior Court judge decided to delay a sexual abuse case that had been scheduled to go to trial this month.
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