Judge Criticizes As Dishonest Report from San Diego Diocese

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Judge's tears, rebuke close case
The San Diego Catholic diocese's eight-month-old bankruptcy case drew to an emotional close yesterday with the judge shedding tears and scolding the church for being “disingenuous” in reporting its finances to parishioners as part of a campaign to fund a $198 million settlement with victims of sexual abuse.Judge Louise DeCarl Adler said she had planned to grant the diocese's request to dismiss the bankruptcy without comment.But then she got a packet in the mail from her former parish asking to help pay the settlement.The mailing, which was recently sent to parishioners in the diocese, included a financial breakdown she said was less than candid.Adler said there is ample property the church could sell or mortgage to fund the settlement, citing parking lots, houses and other holdings listed in court documents.The diocese could have settled the claims without seeking bankruptcy, she added. “Chapter 11 is not supposed to be a vehicle, a method, to hammer down the claims of those abused,” she said.