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	Parishes' Request to Resume Construction Denied By Mark Sauer and Sandi Dolbee Union-Tribune [San Diego CA] April 25, 2007 http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070425-9999-7m25diocese.html Construction projects at several parishes that were suspended after the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego filed for bankruptcy cannot resume now, a federal judge ruled yesterday in response to an emergency request. The Organization of Parishes, formed recently to represent the interests of the diocese's 98 parishes, had asked bankruptcy Judge Louise DeCarl Adler to allow about $122,500 per day to be spent on seven projects between now and May 8, when a hearing is set on the matter. Attorneys for the organization filed an emergency motion Monday to resume seven construction projects, arguing that they had been "abruptly stopped ... causing damages which increase each day construction is suspended." But attorneys representing more than 150 victims in lawsuits involving sexual abuse by priests objected. They said the parishes had no standing in the case, had failed to show how the construction would "add to the value" of the diocese's estate and had failed to properly document where the money would come from. Adler sided with those representing the victims. The judge ruled that the Organization of Parishes cannot ask the court to allow the construction money to be spent while at the same time "deny it is submitting to the court's jurisdiction." The diocese should be bringing such a motion, Adler said. A diocese spokesman said it would respond immediately with its own emergency motion to allow the seven parish projects to go forward. "I understand the grounds on which she denied the motion," said Micheal Webb, the diocese's in-house attorney. Victor Vilaplana, attorney for the Organization of Parishes, said he was disappointed by the ruling but would continue to pursue the request. While the organization argues that parish funds are separate from the diocese, the judge earlier this month halted all construction projects until church finances could be unraveled. "We don't concede (parish money) belongs to the diocese, but she has frozen it," Vilaplana said. The clash spotlights a critical issue in the contentious, two-month-old bankruptcy case: whether the 98 parishes are part of the diocese's estate, as the victims contend, or separate entities whose property cannot be used to pay settlements to victims, as the diocese argues. "This whole property-separation question (raises) its head on almost every issue in this bankruptcy case," said attorney Irwin Zalkin, who represents dozens of sexual-abuse plaintiffs. "I can't imagine the judge is not going to want to tee up that issue and resolve it sooner than later." Attorney Andrea Leavitt, who also represents several clients suing the diocese, said disappointed parishioners should not blame attorneys or the victims for the halting of their construction projects. "They have nobody to blame but Bishop (Robert) Brom," Leavitt said. "Nobody forced him to file for bankruptcy. When he elected (to play) this game, he took the benefits and he had to take the downside, too." Meanwhile yesterday, a judge in Spokane, Wash., confirmed a bankruptcy reorganization for the Catholic diocese there in which about 150 victims of sexual abuse will share $48 million, according to The Associated Press. • Mark Sauer: (619) 293-2227; mark.sauer@uniontrib.com
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