Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg files Chapter 11 bankruptcy case

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Feb. 19 – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, Pa., filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

“This plan will allow us to continue the work of the diocese and equitably compensate our creditors,” bishop Ronald W. Gainer said in a news release.

“Our diocese is forced to confront some difficult financial realities. Despite making every attempt to scale back operations and reduce overhead, we are currently unable to meet our financial obligations.”

Specifically, the diocese said in the release that it was facing a challenging financial condition for a number of years before receiving a grand jury subpoena in 2016, with an ensuing clergy sexual abuse investigation forcing it to incur heavy costs that it was not able to budget for and that limited the options available to correct the preexisting financial trend.

“Despite the success of the Survivor Compensation Program, which helped 111 survivors of clergy child sexual abuse (96% of those who participated in the program), the diocese is already in receipt of half a dozen new lawsuits, any one of which could severely cripple the diocese,” the release said.

As part of the grand jury process, the diocese said it provided hundreds of thousands of documents related to clergy-child sexual abuse to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office. It has also made public a list of all clergy-child sexual abuse accusations made against priests, deacons and seminarians.

According to court documents, the diocese has $1 million to $10 million in assets and $50 million to $100 million in debt.

The largest unsecured creditor is the Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority, with a $30.71 million money loaned claim.

Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP is representing the diocese in its bankruptcy proceedings.

The Chapter 11 case number is 20-00599.

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