San Francisco Archdiocese files for bankruptcy amid 500 child sexual abuse cases

The Archdiocese of San Francisco on Monday announced it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to facilitate settlements as it faces more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse. 

“The unfortunate reality is that the Archdiocese has neither the financial means nor the practical ability to litigate all of these abuse claims individually, and therefore, after much consideration, concluded that the bankruptcy process was the best solution for providing fair and equitable compensation to the innocent survivors who have been harmed,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a statement. 

The Archdioceses is facing more than 500 lawsuits that claim it enabled child sexual abuse involving priests that were active in the ministry more than 30 years ago. The lawsuit comes after California suspended the statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases between January 2020 and December 2022, allowing victims until they turned 40 to file lawsuits against their abusers. 

“The overwhelming majority of the more than 500 claims stem from allegations of sexual abuse that occurred 30 or more years ago involving priests who are no longer active in ministry or are deceased,” the archdiocese said.

The San Francisco Archdiocese serves more than 442,000 Catholics in the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin. Despite the bankruptcy filing, the priests and deacons will continue to carry out their services, the statement continued. 

According to the statement, the 88 parishes within the Archdiocese will not be affected because they are independently managed, self-financed, and not included in the lawsuits. 

The Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests, known as SNAP, said that t doesn’t believe the Archiodicese is not as financially unstable as it claims to be. 

"We seriously doubt that the Archdiocese of San Francisco does not have the assets to settle these lawsuits, and we find it disturbing that Archbishop Cordileone claimed this is the ‘best way’ for victims' lawsuits to be resolved," a SNAP statement said. 

"We can only hope that the federal judge closely examines the Archdiocese’s real estate holdings, which are spread across three of the richest counties in the United States."

At least 13 dioceses are currently engaged in bankruptcy proceedings. In May, the Catholic Diocese of Oakland also filed for Chapter 11 after it received more than 330 lawsuits of child sexual abuse within the church. The diocese of San Diego, one of the largest in the state, announced in May that it planned to file for Chapter 11 later this year.