CALIFORNIA
Manteca Bulletin
By Rose Albano-Risso
City Editor ralbanorisso@mantecabulletin.com 209-249-3536
POSTED January 14, 2014
Calling it “a painful but necessary decision,” Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of the Diocese of Stockton announced that attorneys for the diocese will be filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday.
The decision comes after months of “careful consideration, consultation and prayer,” and looking for other solutions as a “way out” of the problem.
“Chapter 11 protection is the only way we can fulfill our responsibilities to the victims of sexual abuse and our responsibilities to the parishes and communities we serve,” the bishop stated in the announcement released to the media.
He made it clear that the bankruptcy reorganization filing concerns only “the corporation sole known legally as the Roman Catholic Bishop of Stockton.”
Not affected in the bankruptcy filing are the parishes in the diocese – such as St. Anthony of Padua in Manteca, St. Patrick’s Church in Ripon, and Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Lathrop – and diocesan schools including St. Anthony of Padua School in Manteca and the Catholic high schools in Modesto (Central Catholic) and Stockton (St. Mary’s High), as well as Catholic cemeteries such as St. John’s Cemetery in Ripon-Escalon, and the Madonna of Peace Retreat Center – because these are separate corporations.
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