The Catholic Diocese of Davenport will declare it’s bankrupt. At the end of the day on Tuesday, Bishop William Franklin sent out the announcement, saying the diocese has no choice because of lawsuits it is facing over abuse of children in its parishes committed by priests decades ago.
Only a handful of Catholic dioceses have declared bankruptcy, among them Portland, Dallas, Spokane and Tucson, though many are struggling with millions in court judgments in molestation lawsuits. Bishop Franklin said settling the suits already decided would burn through all the church’s assets and there’d be no money left for future claims yet to be filed.
A judge on Tuesday afternoon threw out a lawsuit by a man who said he and others had been abused by a Catholic priest at Iowa City Regina High School in the 1960s, avoiding a bankruptcy the school’s officials said they’d face if the suit went on.