TUCSON (AZ)
KVOA
A major challenge to the Catholic Diocese of Tucson's finances, occurred in court Friday.
A plaintiff attorney says all 77 parishes, as well as schools should be considered part of the diocese's bankrupt estate. That could make them targets for liquidation by creditors.
The diocese has long maintained that parishes are separate legal entities, and that parish assets aren't diocese assets.
Friday, a federal judge disregarded a portion of the motion to include all parish assets with diocese assets, on a technicality. He will decide whether he'll even consider the motion on April 19th.
In the mean time, many hope that complicated issue can be put on the back burner, so that the focus is on creating a compensation plan for victims -- one that all parties agree upon.
A plan many lawyers say will include contributions from parishes anyway.
Posted by kshaw at March 26, 2005 03:34 AM