Baltimore Archdiocese files for US bankruptcy to address sex abuse
lawsuits
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[September 30, 2023]
By Dietrich Knauth
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for U.S.
bankruptcy protection on Friday, saying it intends to seek a settlement
of sex abuse claims by people who allege they were abused as children by
Catholic priests.
The bankruptcy filing was spurred by a Maryland state law set to take
effect on Oct. 1, which would allow survivors of sexual abuse to file
new lawsuits regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred, according to
the Archdiocese's court filings.
Maryland's attorney general has said that there are more than six
hundred known survivors of clergy abuse in the state, numbers that the
Archdiocese said it could not verify.
The bankruptcy filing will help the Archdiocese compensate victims
equitably while allowing to Church to continue operations and preserve
its "limited resources," Archbishop William Lori said in a statement.
"I acknowledge that no apology, compensation, or knowledge of our
present-day accountability measures will necessarily lead to healing for
victim survivors, nor repair the harm they suffered," Lori said. "To be
sure, conversations with victim-survivors have taught me that neither I
nor the Archdiocese can undo what was taken from them."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Sep/30/images/ads/current/bennet_lda_010722.png)
David Lorenz, Maryland leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused
by Priests, said that it was "unconscionable" for the Archdiocese to
file for bankruptcy "even before the first case is filed" under
Maryland's new law.
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![](../images/093023PIX/news_q8.jpg)
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, part of an
investigative report by the Maryland Attorney General that detailed
sexual abuse accusations against their clergy dating back to the
1940s, is seen in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Rosem
Morton/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Sep/30/images/ads/current/llm_lda_FOOTBALL_2023.png)
"They have circumvented the will of the Maryland legislature,"
Lorenz said.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore is the oldest Catholic diocese in the
United States, serving over 485,000 in several Maryland counties.
The archdiocese has between $100 million and $500 million in assets
and between $500 million and $1 billion in liabilities, according to
a Chapter 11 petition filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Baltimore.
Sex abuse lawsuits have driven several other Catholic dioceses into
bankruptcy. New York and California have previously passed laws
similar to Maryland's Child Victims Act, causing a wave of Catholic
bankruptcies in those two states. Six of New York's eight dioceses
have filed for bankruptcy in recent years, and the dioceses of
Oakland, Santa Barbara and San Francisco sought Chapter 11
protection earlier this year.
Previous Catholic bankruptcies have led to large settlements for
abuse claims, such as a $121.5 million 2022 settlement in the
bankruptcy of the Santa Fe Archdiocese. Many of the dioceses that
filed for Chapter 11 after recent changes in state law remain in
bankruptcy without finalized settlements.
(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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