BOSTON -- The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is considering declaring bankruptcy in the wake of hundreds of pending lawsuits against the church alleging sexual abuse by clergy.
Financial advisers to Cardinal Bernard F. Law support the idea, claiming it will be less expensive than continuing to battle the lawsuits in court, according to The New York Times.
Filing for bankruptcy could allow the church to delay paying plaintiffs for years. A judge would give the archdiocese time to get its finances in order, stopping the progression of pending court cases and the filing of new cases, according to the Times.
More than 400 cases are pending against the archdiocese, which paid $10 million to settle with 86 plaintiffs in September.
A lawyer who represents at least half of the plaintiffs said he believes the archdiocese is trying to pressure plaintiffs' lawyers to agree to lesser settlements.
"I think floating this idea out may be part of calculated strategy to say to us, ‘Look, if you guys don't settle out these cases and back off, then we're going to, for the first time ever, put the archdiocese through bankruptcy'," attorney Roderick MacLeish Jr. said. "There is $100 million of potential insurance out there. It's completely premature to consider bankruptcy when the insurance issues have not yet been resolved."
