Baltimore Archdiocese files for bankrupcy because of child sex abuse lawsuits

[Hydra009]

The archdiocese of Baltimore, the oldest in the United States, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday, two days before a new state law goes into effect allowing child sexual abuse victims to sue organizations no matter how long ago the abuse took place.

Archbishop William E. Lori attributed the filing directly to the law's effect on the archdiocese, which is facing "a great number of lawsuits" that were previously prohibited by state law, he said in a letter to the archdiocese on Friday.

The bankruptcy filing stops all lawsuits against the archdiocese, which could have been filed starting at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday. Instead, a judge will oversee the reorganization of the archdiocese, ultimately setting a deadline for victims to file their claims in bankruptcy court.

The archdiocese of Baltimore is the latest of more than a dozen dioceses and archdioceses in the United States to currently be in bankruptcy proceedings. That's in addition to 19 dioceses that have emerged from bankruptcy, according to a list maintained by Marie T. Reilly, a professor at Penn State Law.

Source

This was just days before a new law takes effect which removes statutes of limitations for child sex abuse lawsuits (that was a thing?!), so the Catholic church's move is conveniently timed:

The new law eliminates the statute of limitations for future child sex abuse lawsuits, setting it apart from other states that have opened limited "lookback windows" for victims to sue over past abuse.

But the bankruptcy filing means that victims will now have to file their claims by a certain date, effectively limiting future lawsuits.

Filing for bankruptcy just days before the law goes into effect — and more than five months after it was signed — "is yet another abuse" for victims, said Robert Jenner, a lawyer based in Baltimore who represents victims.

[Dark Lightning]

Bankruptcy my ass. Make the Vatican sell some of that art they have hanging all over and send it to the churches for use in paying off the lawsuits. Won't pay attention to laws about pederasty, but duck behind them when confronted and expected to pay.