San Diego catholic diocese to file for bankruptcy

LOS ANGELES, Feb 28 (Reuters) The Catholic Diocese of San Diego, the eighth-largest city in the United States, said today it planned to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after failing to settle more than 150 sex abuse lawsuits.

With nearly 1 million members, it will become the largest diocese in the United States to seek protection from creditors, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Four other dioceses have also filed for Chapter 11.

''We put money on the table that would have stretched our financial capability to the limit, but demands were made which exceeded the financial resources of both the diocese and our insurance carrier,'' San Diego Bishop Robert H Brom said in a statement.

The planned filing, said Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, was ''a morally bankrupt move by a self-serving bishop who's afraid to face tough questions about coddling and concealing pedophile priests.'' The San Diego claims, dating back to the 1950s, could cost more than 200 million dollars to settle, plaintiffs said.

REUTERS PDM ND1112