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	Amos Named Bishop in Troubled Iowa Diocese By Colette M. Jenkins Beacon Journal [Davenport IA] October 12, 2006 http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/15740761.htm Bishop Martin J. Amos, auxiliary bishop to the southern portion of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, is being introduced this morning as the eighth bishop of the Davenport Diocese in Iowa. Amos, who has led the more than 150,000 Catholics in Summit, Medina, Wayne and Ashland counties since 2001, is in Davenport for a morning news conference. On Tuesday, the Iowa diocese filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, becoming the fourth diocese in the country to seek financial protection to deal with the priest sex abuse scandal. Like those other dioceses -- Portland, Ore.; Spokane, Wash.; and Tucson, Ariz. -- Davenport has been hit by a series of lawsuits that allege church leaders knowingly allowed priests with histories of sexual abuse to be moved to different assignments. The bankruptcy filing came less than two weeks before the diocese is scheduled to defend itself at a trial involving accusations that it failed to discipline a former bishop accused of sexually abusing a high school student. The diocese's current leader, Bishop William Franklin, indicated the filing was necessary because of the financial pressure for settling as many as 25 outstanding claims of sexual abuse. "Because the settlement demands are greater than the available assets of the diocese, we cannot continue on our present path," Franklin wrote in a letter posted on the diocese Web site. "While providing just and fair compensation to victims/survivors, we also believe that the decision to reorganize is the best way in which we will be able to continue the church's mission in the Diocese of Davenport." Since 2004, the diocese has paid more than $10.5 million to resolve dozens of claims, including a $9 million settlement reached with 37 victims in fall 2004. The Davenport Diocese is made up of 22 counties in southeast Iowa and has more than 105,000 parishioners in 84 parishes. Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com.
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