CATHOLIC CHURCH Archdiocese files Chapter 11 after lawsuits

The diocese is the only one in the United States to file for bankruptcy protection.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Being molested by a priest left James Devereaux with nobody to confess to. What he could not find at the confessional as a boy, Devereaux hoped he would find in court as a man.
But just as Devereaux and his lawyer were preparing to sue the late Rev. Maurice Grammond, the Portland Archdiocese announced Tuesday it was filing for bankruptcy.
The archdiocese took action because of the steep costs from clergy sex abuse lawsuits, halting the trial of a lawsuit against Grammond, accused of sexually abusing more than 50 boys in the 1980s.
Intends to pursue action
Devereaux said he would persevere despite the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, an unprecedented step that could open the Roman Catholic archdiocese to new levels of court scrutiny.
"We will continue our fight to finally get the archdiocese to accept the sin of its crimes," said Devereaux, a 52-year-old rancher who said he was raped repeatedly by Father Grammond beginning in 1964 in the southern Oregon logging town of Oakridge.
"I had been taught as a child that God is Almighty," he said, "and the priest is his representative."
No other American diocese has filed for bankruptcy, though Boston threatened to do so at the height of the abuse crisis that erupted there two years ago. The Diocese of Tucson, Ariz., has said it will decide whether to seek court protection before an abuse trial there in September.
Plaintiffs in the two lawsuits involving Father Grammond have sought a total of more than $160 million.
The archdiocese and its insurers already have paid more than $53 million to settle more than 130 claims dating to 1950 by people who say they were abused by priests. Most of those lawsuits have been filed since 1999.
Bankruptcy filing
The bankruptcy filing includes claims against the diocese from 20 pending priest abuse lawsuits, ranging in amounts from $5.1 million to $135 million. It also includes what appears to be a $22.3 million bank loan.
The filing did not include a list of the archdiocese's assets, which will be filed later.
Bud Bunce, spokesman for the 356,000-member archdiocese, said church operations will continue as usual.
"All the parishes will continue with their regular services," Bunce said. "For the most part we anticipate the normal, everyday types of activities we do will continue."
Chapter 11 bankruptcy frees an organization from the threat of creditors' lawsuits while it reorganizes. However, it also could open church records to public scrutiny, and could require church leaders to cede some financial control to the courts.
Tried to settle
Archbishop John G. Vlazny said the archdiocese tried to settle with the plaintiffs, but could not afford their offer.
Plaintiffs' attorney David Slader countered that the church was simply trying to avoid the details of the lawsuits coming out in court.
"The archdiocese is one of the wealthiest corporations in Oregon," Slader said. He said the archdiocese owns more than $500 million in tax-assessed properties, and has many investments.
Father Grammond served as a priest throughout the state from 1950-85, when he took sick leave. Allegations of sexual abuse against Father Grammond were first reported in 1991, but the charges didn't become public until 1999 when a former altar boy sued him and the archdiocese. Father Grammond was suspended when he refused to fully cooperate in the church investigation.