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	Church Attorney Denies Indemnity Agreement By Michael Fisher The Press-Enterprise [San Bernardino CA] March 1, 2007 http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_C_diocese02.3c504ae.html An attorney for the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego said church leaders have no formal agreement to indemnify the San Bernardino Diocese in pending lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct by Inland priests before 1978. In the past, officials with both dioceses have said the San Diego Diocese had agreed to pay any costs incurred by the San Bernardino Diocese in clergy abuse lawsuits predating 1978, when the Inland diocese was created. "We don't really have any agreement," diocesan attorney Michael Webb said this week. "Their insurance was effectively our insurance (in 1978) because they were part of our diocese. . . . Our insurance policies are responding to those claims. . . . There is no formal indemnification agreement with them." Officials of the San Bernardino Diocese say they are still assessing how they stand to be affected by the San Diego Diocese's bankruptcy declaration. Tuesday's filing came hours before trial was to start in the first of 140 clergy abuse lawsuits against the San Diego Diocese and, in some cases, the San Bernardino Diocese. "How this impacts us will not be clear until the bankruptcy-court proceedings are completed and we know whether or not our shared cases with San Diego have been resolved or even impacted," said the Rev. Howard Lincoln, spokesman for the San Bernardino Diocese. In the trial that was to start Wednesday, a Colorado woman accuses a longtime Inland priest, Monsignor Patrick O'Keeffe, of molesting her at St. Adelaide Church in Highland in 1972 when she was a teen. O'Keeffe was removed from ministry in 1994 and returned to his native Ireland in 2002. The bankruptcy filing halts all pending litigation against the San Diego Diocese, Webb said. He contends the filing also stops litigation in lawsuits naming both the San Diego and San Bernardino dioceses. The Inland diocese is named in at least 17 lawsuits, some of which also name the San Diego Diocese. "It is our intent not to let any claims go forward," Webb said. Some victims' attorneys said they intend to pursue portions of the lawsuits targeting the San Bernardino Diocese. "It's our expectation that we would move forward with the claims against San Bernardino where San Bernardino is the sole defendant," said Raymond Boucher, an attorney representing people suing over claims they were molested by priests. Despite Tuesday's filing by the San Diego Diocese, the San Bernardino Diocese "has no plans to file for bankruptcy at this time," Lincoln said. Diocesan officials believe they have sufficient insurance coverage to handle a relatively small number of pending clergy abuse lawsuits targeting the Inland diocese, he said. Webb said it was unclear how the two dioceses will work together to resolve the pending cases. "I don't see us in an adversarial relationship with their diocese." Webb said. "All of the cases will be resolved through a plan of reorganization." He said the Chapter 11 reorganization could take 18 months or longer. With the filing, the San Diego Diocese became the fifth of the nation's 196 dioceses to declare bankruptcy. Reach Michael Fisher at 951-368-9470 or mfisher@PE.com
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