There was a press release Friday. Today, the Diocese of Santa Rosa filed for bankruptcy. Humboldt Catholic churches are a part of this diocese. Bishop Robert F. Vasa had announced the possibility of filing bankruptcy in December 2022.
One priest assigned to Catholic churches in Humboldt and several other churches in the Diocese of Santa Rosa made national headlines.
Fr. Gary Timmons was a priest at several churches in the Diocese of Santa Rosa. In addition to Mendocino, he was a priest at St. Bernard's in Eureka, St. Joseph's in Fortuna and the Newman Center in Arcata. The Humboldt District Attorney was one of the counties filing molestation charges against Timmons. He was sentenced to concurrent terms for charges in Humboldt and Marin County.
After a conviction in in 1996, he was defrocked. The Diocese of Santa Rosa issued a public apology and paid $2.5 million in settlements to men who were abused by Timmons as children. He was released from prison in 2000.
This means the 222 current claims will not go to trial because today's filing automatically freezes all lawsuits so they can be settled through federal bankruptcy court.
I had previously posted about the San Diego Diocese indicating it may file for bankruptcy for the same reasons.
The Diocese of Sacramento is facing insolvency and also considering bankruptcy facing over 200 claims.
Related post:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2023/02/san-diego-diocese-may-file-bankruptcy.html?m=1
March 10 press release Santa Rosa:
https://srdiocese.org/news/pressrelease-friday-march10-2023
February 26 letter Sacramento:
https://www.scd.org/news/addressing-wounds-inflicted-clergy-abuse
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.