TENNESSEE
Tennessean
By SHEILA BURKE
Staff Writer
The Catholic Church has shifted ownership of nine Midstate properties, an action critics say was calculated to protect assets from the kinds of huge settlements that have been awarded to victims of priest abuse.
Diocese of Nashville officials filed paperwork so that eight churches and one school would be owned by the parishes or school instead of the bishops who had owned the properties for decades.
The diocese is being sued for $68 million by two victims of abuse. The parishes are not named as defendants.
The lawsuits were filed in January 2000 and later merged, and the nine property transfers all have taken place since.
Seven of them happened in the past 15 months, during which time the state Supreme Court was considering reviving the lawsuit, which had been dismissed by a lower court. The suit was revived in January.
Officials with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville say the church is not doing anything untoward. They say the diocese has been engaged in an effort to ensure that property deeds accurately reflect the true owners of the property.