WASHINGTON
Law.com
Matt Miller
The Deal
09-02-2005
By ruling that parish property should be included in the estate of the bankrupt Spokane diocese, a judge in Washington state did more than just hand a group of sex abuse victims access to a far richer cache of assets.
Judge Patricia Williams of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Washington in Spokane also laid down an important marker on just what the legal structure and financial responsibility of the Catholic Church in America is.
"It's a huge decision," said Douglas Laycock, a constitutional law authority at the University of Texas School of Law.
As part of an adversary motion for summary judgment filed by a committee of tort litigants, Williams ruled Friday, Aug. 26, that the parish property should be included. The diocese immediately appealed to a federal district court.
"We have a responsibility, not only to victims, but to the generations of parishioners," Spokane Bishop William Skylstad said in a statement.
In her decision, Williams forcefully rejected the arguments of Skylstad that as leader of the diocese, he merely holds church property in trust for individual parishes.