Endangered Species

Catholic Online has published an article on parish ownership and its implications for lawsuits against the Church. The author notes that lawyers are claiming parishes as assets of the diocese, despite being owned by their respective parishioners, which has opened the door to the possibility of their been sold off to cover costs for abuse settlements. Of course it is not just parishes which are at stake but every Catholic institution from schools to cemeteries, in short anything with the bishop's signature on its papers.

It makes rather frightening reading but thankfully has not reached the point when churches and schools have "For Sale" signs out the front. As the general counsel for the USCCB says, "We have to continue treating the victims with compassion and try to reconcile with them. That's part of being church. But we can't shut down our parishes, our ministries, our schools. We can't stop feeding the poor and caring for the homeless, because of these settlements."

http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=20357