Spokane Diocese Bankruptcy - Special coverage at The Spokesman-Review

News > Spokane

Spokane Diocese, two insurers reach deal

Fri., April 21, 2006

Two insurance carriers have agreed to pay the Spokane Catholic Diocese a total of $4.25 million to settle priest sex-abuse claims. Bishop William Skylstad said Thursday the proposed agreements were indicative of the momentum that has been building to resolve the diocese's thorny Chapter 11 bankruptcy – now 16 months old.

News > Spokane

Priest removed after sexual abuse claim filed

Wed., April 19, 2006

A Jesuit priest now working in the Diocese of Yakima was removed from ministry last week after a sexual abuse claim against him surfaced in the Spokane Diocese's bankruptcy case. The Rev. John J. Morse denied the accusations in a letter he wrote to parishioners of Our Lady of Fatima in Moses Lake, but his Jesuit superiors still asked him to step down as they await the findings of an independent investigation.

News > Spokane

Diocese’s settlement offer called unfair

Wed., April 12, 2006

A $45.7 million settlement offer from the Catholic Diocese of Spokane to fewer than half of the people alleging sex abuse by clergy has been called unfair and premature by others left out of the proposal. Attorney Beth Bollinger, who represents five victims, said the settlement establishes a piecemeal approach that risks leaving insufficient funds to pay victims who were not included.

News > Spokane

Seattle church taps reserve funds

Sat., April 1, 2006

SEATTLE – The Seattle Archdiocese has dug into its reserve funds to cover the cost of settling sex abuse claims, church officials said. Payments to victims plus counseling and attorneys' fees now total $26 million over the past 19 years, a church audit showed. The archdiocese has paid the settlements and other expenses through a combination of insurance and reserve funds from the sale of property more than 20 years ago.

News > Spokane

Diocese, insurer settle

Fri., March 31, 2006

The Catholic Diocese of Spokane announced a settlement Thursday with one of its liability insurers for $5.25 million – money that will be used to pay sex-abuse claims against the church. The agreement with General Insurance Company of America, a subsidiary of Seattle-based Safeco Corp., is the first substantial settlement with an insurance company since the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2004.

News > Spokane

Diocese in cash crunch

Wed., March 29, 2006

The Catholic Diocese of Spokane is running so low on cash that it has stopped paying its lawyers, even as major developments in its bankruptcy case unfold. The salve could be selling property such as the chancery and the bishop's home, and asking parishioners to refill the church's coffers to pay for the bankruptcy, now nearly 16 months old.

News > Spokane

More Catholics give more money

Thu., March 16, 2006

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the future of their churches and schools, Roman Catholic parishioners continue to offer financial support to their beleaguered Spokane diocese. Donations are up this year to the Annual Catholic Appeal, a diocese-wide campaign to raise money for ministry and the major source of funds for its programs in Eastern Washington.

News > Spokane

Diocese to list exact number of abuse claims

Wed., March 15, 2006

The Catholic Diocese of Spokane will wait several days before announcing the exact number of sex abuse claims filed in its bankruptcy case. As of Friday's deadline for filing claims, at least 176 people alleged they had been sexually abused as children by Catholic clergy serving Eastern Washington.

News > Spokane

Claims against diocese soaring

Sat., March 11, 2006

Sex-abuse claims against the Catholic Diocese of Spokane have more than doubled since the troubled Eastern Washington church filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy 15 months ago. The claims, 176 and counting as Friday's deadline drew near, could cost the diocese and its 82 parishes tens of millions of dollars.

News > Spokane

Missteps erode trust in bishops

Sat., March 11, 2006

Whatever trust the nation's Roman Catholic bishops had restored with their response to clergy sex abuse has been badly eroded in recent weeks by a combination of missteps and outside criticism, including allegations that Spokane Bishop William Skylstad sexually abused a girl 40 years ago. Any of the latest developments would be disturbing, but taken together, critics see the church as floundering with the same problems that engulfed it four years ago.