Diocese considers bankruptcy filing
The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego said in a letter to parishioners this weekend that it is considering declaring bankruptcy to avoid going to trial on more than 140 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests.
The pastoral statement, signed by Bishop Robert Brom, said if fair settlements can’t be reached with abuse victims, “the diocese may be forced to file a Chapter 11 reorganization in bankruptcy court.”
The letter was included in the regular weekly bulletin handed out at services Saturday and Sunday.
If the diocese files for bankruptcy, it would become the fifth in the nation to seek protection in the clergy sex abuse scandal. Under such bankruptcy, a court supervises the reorganization of the diocese’s contractual and debt obligations.
An attorney for the San Diego plaintiffs said the Chapter 11 filing “would be a sham and frivolous.”
A message left at the San Diego Diocese was not immediately returned Sunday night. Other diocese filing for bankruptcy are Spokane; Portland; Davenport, Iowa; and Tucson, Ariz.
SAN FRANCISCO
Scientists take stand on warming
The world’s largest general scientific society on Sunday joined the concern over global climate change, calling it a “growing threat to society.”
It is the first consensus statement of the board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on climate change. It comes just weeks after the International Panel on Climate Change issued its most recent report on human-induced warming.
“The evidence is clear: Global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now and is a growing threat to society,” the AAAS said at its annual meeting.
Concern focuses on carbon dioxide and other gases produced by burning fossil fuels and other processes. As these gases accumulate in the atmosphere they trap heat from the sun, warming the climate.
On Feb. 2 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that global warming is so severe that it will “continue for centuries,” leading to a far different planet in 100 years.
NEW YORK
Presidents Day flights canceled
JetBlue called off almost a quarter of its flights today, but hoped that would be the last round of cancellations as it struggles to recover from the snowstorm that saw some travelers sitting on grounded planes for hours.
The news sent passengers scrambling to deal with the disruption to their plans.
The airline had scheduled 600 flights for Presidents Day, more than the 550 to 575 flights it has on a normal Monday, but 139 of them were canceled, JetBlue announced late Saturday.
The latest cancellations were needed to make sure all flight crews had gotten the legally mandated amount of rest before returning to service, JetBlue Airways Corp. spokesman Sebastian White said Sunday.