On Aug. 21, the San Francisco Archdiocese filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to the more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse against church officials, many of which date back decades.
A Chapter 11 bankruptcy prevents any further lawsuits from survivors, but it allows the Archdiocese to develop a settlement plan with current plaintiffs to provide compensation for the sexual abuse.
In a press release by the San Francisco Archdiocese, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone said, “It is the best way to bring much-needed resolution to survivors while allowing the Archdiocese to continue its sacred mission to the faithful and those in need.”
The avalanche of lawsuits was made possible by The California Child Victims Act, passed in 2019, which allowed victims who were abused even decades ago to file lawsuits as long as they were filed before Dec. 31, 2022.
In 2003, California passed a similar law that also extended the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse. The San Francisco Archdiocese has since paid more than $70 million in settlements to child sexual abuse survivors.
Haley Hang ’25, who takes Life Issues with religious studies teacher Joe Frias, said, “This is crazy, but I’m glad that this is a way for people to get justice.”
The San Francisco Archdiocese has not publicly released a list of accused abusers, despite requests from survivors.
However, according to the SF Archdiosce website, “The Office of Child and Youth Protection at the Archdiocese of San Francisco was established to address allegations of past or current sexual abuse by clergy, religious or other people who work or volunteer for the Archdiocese.”
Most of the claims filed were from cases stemming from 30 years ago involving priests. This decades-long lag in reporting is to be expected.
According to a fact sheet on delayed disclosure released by Child USA in 2020, it can take victims 40 or more years to come forward about their abuse. Furthermore, children typically don’t have the means or ability to take legal action against their abusers.
Thus, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests warn against claiming that Catholic child sexual abuse is “in the past”, because of how long it takes for survivors to come forward.
Parishes, schools, cemeteries, and other organizations related to the SF Archdiocese are not implicated in the filing.
Instructor David Lorentz, who teaches Life Issues at Riordan, said, “[They] are individual businesses that are still in good shape, financially.”
Therefore, the jobs of faculty at Riordan and the other archdiocesan schools will not be impacted.
The San Francisco Archdiocese is the third California archdiocese to file for bankruptcy due to child sexual abuse lawsuits, joining the Diocese of Oakland and the Diocese of Santa Rosa. The Diocese of San Diego is expected to follow suit later this year.
Lorentz said, “The lawsuits continue to be a sad blemish on our church and on our society…. Let’s continue to pray for those who are suffering from this abuse.”
