FRESNO (CA)
Fresnoland [Fresno CA]
July 12, 2024
By Gisselle Medina
The Fresno Diocese would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization “to address the substantial number of claims brought forth by victims collectively.”
What’s at stake?
Once the Diocese of Fresno reaches a settlement, survivors and other “creditors” will receive a share of the financial compensation, but abuse survivors and organizations say it falls short of addressing their life-long injuries.
Karen Lowart and her family have been devout Catholics their entire lives—her parents frequently hosted priests and bishops at their home, attended Mass every Sunday, and were educated in religious schools from kindergarten through college.
Lowart, 63, continued these traditions after having three children of her own, until her youngest son, Jason, revealed to his parents that he had been molested by a priest at the age of four at his grandparents’ northwest Fresno home.
“When Jason walked in the room, everybody was excited that he was there, he was that kind of a friend,” said Lowart. “As the years went on, his bright blue eyes became darker and his smile was fake.”
Lowart is one of the 154 sexual abuse cases filed against the Fresno Roman Catholic Diocese since Assembly Bill 218 was enacted in January 2020. AB 218 allowed an additional three-year window for certain civil sexual assault claims that were previously prohibited by the time limit. The new deadline to file a claim closed on December 31, 2022. Survivors were able to file lawsuits up to either five years from the discovery of the assault or until they reached age 40, whichever came first.
In response, diocese leader Bishop Joseph V. Brennan said in an open letter that the Fresno Catholic Church will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August. Through Chapter 11, the diocese would undergo a court-supervised reorganization, avoiding the need for dozens of individual trials. Based on the total expense required to resolve these claims, it is possible the diocese could be rendered insolvent, according to an FAQ about Brennan’s open letter.
Brennan said his “two definitive goals” are to “make sure we are handling claims of abuse with equitable compassion and resolving those claims as fairly as possible,” and to “ensure the continuation of ministry within our Diocese.”
Fresno’s diocese includes more than 1 million Catholics among 87 parishes and 21 schools from Fresno, Kern, Kings, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties.
How will the bankruptcy proceedings work?
Rick Simons, a lawyer serving as the plaintiffs’ co-liaison counsel for the Northern California cases, including those of the Diocese of Fresno, said that once the diocese files for bankruptcy in August, the claims are evaluated, and a payment plan is worked out, often through mediation.
The bishop and insurance companies can object to specific claims, which are then resolved individually or in groups before the final distribution of funds.
Simons said that without juries determining the value of these cases, the bankruptcy court approves settlements for survivors that are much lower than what they might receive through individual court cases, where a jury might award higher compensation after hearing each survivor’s testimony or individually evaluating each person.Stay in the know with our daily newsletter, Toplines.Sign up
A fund is established in a trust, managed by an independent trustee who distributes payments among survivors (known as “creditors”) based on what happened to them and how it has affected their lives.
The time it takes to go through the bankruptcy process for survivors can vary significantly depending on several factors, including the complexity of the case, the number of claims, and the cooperation of involved parties. Generally, the process can take anywhere from several months to several years.
“For survivors, it means waiting longer, more of them die or get discouraged and deal with the psychological and emotional trauma of having been placed again at the back of the process,” said Simons. “Survivors suffer more, as they have throughout their life without any kind of responsibility by the institution that causes harm. It is an evasion of responsibility by an institution that supposedly preaches, ‘we should all be responsible for what we do, but don’t apply that same rule to themselves.’”
Lowart and her husband, Brett, felt like something was off with their son in his late teens, especially when Jason began having recurring nightmares. They sought help from psychiatric therapists, and through light therapy, Jason revealed that his recurring nightmares were about Rev. Don Flickinger, ordained in 1964, with bloodshot eyes, maniacal laughter, and white face towering over him and molesting him.
From that point on, Jason struggled with substance abuse, entering and exiting multiple rehab centers for years before he died from an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2023.
Lowart became involved with SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, after Jason’s passing. She is training to become a Coachella Valley volunteer leader, someone who would field calls from community members and hold regular support meetings.
“We were raised in this devout Catholic family but the facade was that priests were right up there with God, so you never doubted or questioned anything about them. If anyone did, they would be shunned from the church,” said Lowart. “Now that my eyes are open, I am resentful and I’ve felt like I’ve lived a lie. The Catholic guilt is so huge but I tell myself to get rid of it because to be angry and resentful, that’s not going to help my son’s memory.”
The Diocese of Fresno’s 154 cases follow a total of about 1,600 reports that have been filed against the Catholic Church in Northern California, said Simons. These cases are being coordinated through Alameda County Superior Court and span dioceses in Fresno, Monterey, San Jose, San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Sacramento and Oakland. According to Religion News Service, more than 3,000 lawsuits have been filed against the Catholic Church in California.
Victim advocacy group pushes back against bankruptcy plans
SNAP condemned the bankruptcy filing in a statement, suggesting that bankruptcy “is not the only way to achieve fair recoveries in all of the lawsuits against the Diocese.”
Melanie Sakoda, SNAP survivor support director, said that the bankruptcy filing would completely shut out survivors who aren’t ready to come forward, those who don’t remember their abuse, children who have yet to come forward, and anyone abused after the filing.
Sakoda also said that the bankruptcy filing brings questions of how the diocese will ensure transparency. Church records that could provide survivors with details about the abuser’s background, previous accusations, and decisions regarding their placement in the parish are considered irrelevant in the bankruptcy process and may remain undisclosed, unless they have already been disclosed in a civil case discovery.
Under chapter 11, the diocese must publicly file comprehensive monthly reports of its finances, disclosing income, expenditures, assets and liabilities as well as the reorganization plans with the bankruptcy court.
In 2021, the diocese released a list of clergy accused including 64 ordained as early as 1906. The disclosed list includes registered priests for the Diocese of Fresno, priests who served in the Diocese of Fresno with known abuse allegations within the diocese, extern priests incardinated for another diocese with allegations of abuse while serving in Fresno, and priests who served in Fresno but were later found to have allegations of sexual abuse outside the diocese. The list provides the cleric’s name, current known status, and dates and locations of assignments while serving in the diocese.
When asked if the list will be updated to include newly accused from 2022-present, Marquez did not provide a direct comment.
How to report a claim
For survivors who wish to report abuse to the diocese, the diocese’s victim assistance coordinator goes through a process to deem it credible. The coordinator follows mandated reporting laws, if applicable, assesses the need for, provides counseling services and informs the bishop and the Diocesan Review Board.
A priest or deacon facing a credible accusation is immediately removed from ministry pending investigation. If the report involves a minor, the diocese promptly reports it to law enforcement.
An announcement will be made at every parish where the alleged perpetrator served, asking victims or witnesses to come forward and contact law enforcement. Law enforcement can prevent this announcement if they believe it will interfere with their investigation.
“I am not a devout Catholic anymore and don’t plan on ever becoming one again. I say my rosary every morning, I know there’s a God, I know we have to question why God allowed this to happen to a beautiful boy,” said Lowart. “I can not see myself attending mass because for me, it seems so superficial and not sincere.”
Local Catholic parishes, schools’ operations unaffected
Brennan said in his letter that none of Fresno’s Catholic schools would be affected by the bankruptcy. The operations of schools, parishes, and organizations continue uninterrupted, as those entities are separate from the corporate entity known legally as The Roman Catholic Bishop of Fresno.
The bankruptcy filing will affect the diocese’s day-to-day operations, just as it would for any other business filing for Chapter 11 protections but Chandler Marquez, the director of communications for the Diocese of Fresno, said that it would be minimal.
“Our goal is to have people in the pews, we don’t want their experience with their faith or church to be interrupted,” said Marquez.
“People are still going to receive the sacraments, mass times won’t be reduced or changed and we offer a lot of services to the disenfranchised throughout the whole Central Valley, including three Catholic Charities, and none of that will be affected.”