PORTLAND (OR)
The Cincinnati Post
From staff and wire reports
PORTLAND, Ore. - The Archdiocese of Portland, the first in the country to file for bankruptcy because of abuse settlements, is at the heart of a debate that could affect future claims by alleged victims of priest sexual abuse.
Attorneys are fighting over who, exactly, owns the churches and the land they're built on.
A hearing was scheduled for todayon whether the individual parishes and Catholic schools own their assets, as the archdiocese argues, or whether those assets belong to the archdiocese itself, as the plaintiffs claim.
Dan Andriacco, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, said Canon Law - the law of the church - is very clear on the matter.
"Canon 1256 states the right of ownership over goods under the supreme authority of the Roman Pontiff belongs to that juridic person which has lawfully acquired them," said Andriacco. "A parish is its own juridic person."