The number of clergy sex abuse claims against the Catholic Diocese of Rochester has reportedly forced it into bankruptcy.

Rochester Bishop Salvatore Matano announced the bankruptcy on the afternoon of September 11. He said it “was a very difficult and painful decision.”

According to the Chapter 11 reorganization filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manchester, the diocese has assets of $50 million to $100 million, but financial liabilities that could add up to anywhere between $100 million and $500 million.

The Chapter 11 filing does not mean the diocese will close, but will be allowed to reorganize its finances in the face of potentially hundreds of clergy sex abuse claims. Currently, 59 lawsuits have been filed by alleged victims of sexual abuse, but the number is expected to increase by August 2020, which is when the look-back window on past sexual abuse allegations will close.

New York passed the Child Victims Act earlier this year to provide adults who were sexually abused as children a one-year period of time that allows them to file suit no matter how long ago the abuse occurred. That look-back window opened Aug. 14, 2019.

Sexual abuse claims are not just with the church. The state of New York reports that nearly 600 sexual abuse lawsuits have been filed since Aug. 14, with many of them naming the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts of America and the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses as defendants.

Bishop Matano said during a press conference regarding the bankruptcy filing, “I don’t see this in any way as a tactic. A reasonable person would look at the claims and demands that are before us, demands that are reaching $100 million. They can review our resources and would come to the conclusion we cannot minister to every victim who comes forward and help them out if we don’t go this route. We do sincerely consider this the best course of action for the victims.”

More Reports of Clergy Sex Abuse Claims

The Catholic Church is experiencing an increasing number of lawsuits because of New York’s Child Victims Act that is allowing many people who had been prevented from filing claims due to the old statute of limitations to now take action.

Even high-profile clergy are not immune to having their pasts come back to haunt them. Monsignor Otto Garcia of St. Teresa’s Church in Woodside, Queens was a vicar general who was in charge of investigating reports of pedophile priests. He has been accused of covering up allegations against the priests he was supposedly investigating for years, but just recently, he himself was accused of sexual abuse.

Now 61 years old, Tom Davis has accused Garcia of abusing him when Davis was an altar boy in the 1970s. Davis said Garcia would start by wanting to rub Davis’s back, but the rubbing would progress and Garcia would start grinding against him from behind. Davis said the experience terrified him and led him to abuse drugs and alcohol to deal with the shame he felt.

A second lawsuit has also been filed against Garcia, who remains a vicar at St. Teresa’s.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.