Catholic Diocese of Oakland files for bankruptcy following more than 300 lawsuits claiming sexual abuse
Diocese of Oakland Bishop Michael Barber speaks during Easter Mass at The Cathedral of Christ the Light in April 2019
By Taylor Romine, CNN
The Catholic Diocese of Oakland filed for bankruptcy protection Monday after it received more than 330 legal claims of sexual abuse, Bishop Michael C. Barber announced in a letter to the parish community.
The lawsuits were filed after California suspended the statute of limitations for sexual abuse between January 2020 and December 2022, opening a three-year window where victims had until age 40 or five years from the time their abuse was discovered to file civil actions against their alleged abusers.
“We made the filing because we believe this process is the best way to support a compassionate and equitable outcome for survivors of abuse, while ensuring we continue to provide the essential services and support so crucial to our parishioners and communities,” Barber said in the letter.
Barber wrote “a great majority” of the alleged abuse in the 330 lawsuits took place between 1960 and 1989 but they are still being notified about claims.
Since that period of time, the diocese “has put in place robust safeguards to protect children and vulnerable adults” including background checks and training on looking out for child sexual abuse, he added.
“We know the pain inflicted against our children and young people decades ago continues to cause great suffering. I am deeply sorrowful about this reality and pray daily for all impacted,” Barber said.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said in a statement that the diocese’s bankruptcy filing “is an attempt to deny justice and transparency” and it is trying to hold onto “money and secrets.”
“The Diocese of Oakland is surely morally bankrupt, it seems to us, but they do not deserve to be declared financially bankrupt,” the statement said.
SNAP said the diocese owns a cathedral worth $200 million and has hundreds of acres of land.
“Except for character and integrity, it is not poor,” SNAP officials said in the statement.
CNN has reached out to the Diocese of Oakland for response to SNAP’s comments and claims.
The diocese will work with their pastors and congregations over the next few months to “determine how best to address the outcome of the bankruptcy process” and how to “right size” their parishes as officials also address declining engagement in the church, the Barber said.
The Diocese of Oakland serves approximately 550,000 Catholics in 82 parishes, according to their website.
Filing for bankruptcy protection doesn’t preclude a financial settlement with the litigants. In October 2020 the diocese in Camden, New Jersey, filed for Chapter 11.
And last month, the diocese and a survivors committee announced an $87.5 million settlement for about 300 victims who reported sexual abuse, according to a representative for some of the survivors.
According to The Catholic Project at The Catholic University of America — citing work by Penn State University law professor Marie Reilly — 13 US dioceses and archdioceses are in bankruptcy proceedings and 17 have emerged since July 2004.
The diocese in Oakland filed for Chapter 11 in the Northern District of California, which is also where the diocese of Santa Rosa filed in March.
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CNN’s Steve Almasy contributed to this report.
