OREGON
The Oregonian
Sunday, December 11, 2005
I t's now up to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris to decide whether the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon owns the 124 parishes it encompasses. Many Oregonians, no doubt including some of the archdiocese's 400,000 parishioners, have been surprised to learn the archdiocese's ownership is in question.
Parish priests, after all, answer to the archbishop and, in most cases, either he or the archdiocese is listed on real estate deeds. And yet each parish does its own fundraising and has its own unique history. For generations of devoted parishioners, certainly, each parish is irreplaceable.
Under church law, the archdiocese argues that each parish holds its property independently. One way or the other, we don't envy Judge Perris this painful decision, which treats churches merely as real estate. Yet in filing for bankruptcy last year, that's exactly what the archdiocese sought, of course: a businesslike treatment and sorting of its assets. The judge's ruling will determine whether an estimated half-billion dollars in parish properties and investments are available if needed to pay damage suits filed by sex-abuse victims.