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	Diocese of Wilmington Files for Bankruptcy The News Journal October 18, 2009 http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20091018/NEWS/91018020/Diocese+of+Wilmington+files+for+bankruptcy The Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, which has pastoral charge of 233,000 Roman Catholics, filed for bankruptcy tonight. . The move comes hours before the start of the state’s first trial in an alleged clergy sex-abuse case. “This is a painful decision, one that I had hoped and prayed I would never have to make,” said Bishop W. Francis Malooly in a statement. “However, after careful consideration and after consultation with my close advisors and counselors, I believe we have no other choice, and that filing for Chapter 11 offers the best opportunity, given finite resources, to provide the fairest possible treatment of all victims of sexual abuse by priests of our Diocese. Our hope is that Chapter 11 proceedings will enable us to fairly compensate all victims through a single process established by the Bankruptcy Court.” The nonprofit religious organization, which has pastoral charge over 233,000 Roman Catholics in Delaware and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, is the first diocese on the East Coast to resort to bankruptcy. It joins a list of six other dioceses in the United States that have filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy laws in what lawyers said is an attempt to manage an avalanche of clergy sexual-abuse litigation. Contact Maureen Milford at 324-2881 or mmilford@delawareonline.com
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