SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The Catholic Diocese of San Diego has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday, citing the need to cover legal costs related to survivors of sexual abuse. The decision has stirred controversy, particularly among survivors who fear it could delay or deny their pursuit of justice.
Cardinal Robert McElroy informed parishioners and clergy in a letter about the decision Monday. If the court accepts this filing, all 450 childhood sexual abuse claims against the Diocese since 2019 would be suspended.
Volunteers with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) held a press conference outside the downtown bankruptcy courthouse.
"No one spoke up for us. This feels like a strategic move to avoid accountability," said Joelle Casteix, a survivor.
Casteix settled her own lawsuit in 2005 with the Diocese in Orange County and was integral in passing a 2019 California law that extended the statute of limitations for three years, allowing survivors to file legal claims against the church.
Casteix, now volunteering with SNAP in San Diego, disagrees with the bankruptcy decision because she believes it will not give survivors the justice they deserve.
"What it does is it takes survivors out of the civil court," Casteix said. "It shuttles everyone into bankruptcy, where they're nothing more than paperwork. They're nothing more than a liability."
Instead of bankruptcy, Casteix said she believes the right thing for the Diocese to do is to work directly with survivors and their attorneys, and for the church to expose who the predators within the church are.
Casteix also believes this will prevent future children from being subjected to sexual abuse in the Catholic church.
Kevin Eckery, a spokesperson for the Diocese of San Diego, said everyone would benefit from this decision.
"I think that without this process if we were to take each lawsuit as it came, all the resources would be gone after only being able to serve 10 or so of the claimants," Eckery said. "That leaves everyone else with no justice at all."
Eckery said they've been negotiating with survivors' lawyers for the last year, and filing for bankruptcy was a joint decision.
