MINNESOTA
MPR News
Martin Moylan Jun 24, 2016
Minnesota Catholic Church leaders in St. Cloud, Crookston, New Ulm and Winona are weighing what to do as their dioceses face the financial fallout from hundreds of sex abuse claims between them.
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Duluth sought bankruptcy court protection after being overwhelmed by clergy sex abuse claims. Soon, some of the state’s smaller dioceses will be forced to choose.
Experts are divided on the path they might take.
“It’s unlikely that they’re going to bankruptcy, based on national trends,” said Charles Zech, director of the Center for Church Management at Villanova University.
“Every diocese in the country virtually has had some abuse cases. And only 13 have felt the need to go to bankruptcy,” he said. “So, the odds are, it probably won’t happen.”
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