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The Diocese of El Paso will file for bankruptcy amid more than a dozen lawsuits over allegations of sexual abuse, Bishop Mark Seitz said this week.
In a message to the Texas diocese on March 6, Seitz said the diocese is facing “18 pending lawsuits” for alleged sexual abuse that occurred between 1956-1982.
The alleged abuse occurred “long before society or the Church was aware of the presence and extent of child abuse taking place within its institutions” and “long before the Diocese implemented the strong child protection policies and practices that exist today to guard against these crimes,” Seitz said in the message, which was accompanied by a video posted to YouTube.
Seitz said he decided to have the diocese file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after consultation with priests and diocesan officials as well as “prayerful consideration.”
He described it as “the most prudent course of action” because “there are now financial claims pending against the diocese that exceed our means.”
The diocese will work “to equitably compensate those who have been harmed, and to carry on the essential ministries of the Church in our diocese so we can continue to meet the needs of all who rely upon the Church,” Seitz said.
Describing diocesan resources as “very limited,” the bishop said the bankruptcy filing will allow the diocese to streamline its abuse compensation plan into one process overseen by the bankruptcy court, allowing the diocese to “move forward on stable financial ground.”
Apologizing for the abuse inflicted on victims by diocesan officials, Seitz said the process will be a “difficult journey,” though he said the diocese will “continue to serve the Lord with all our hearts through whatever trials may come.”
El Paso is the first diocese in Texas to file for bankruptcy over abuse claims. The southern U.S. state is home to 13 dioceses and two archdioceses.
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Mark Seitz is a lousy bishop. He should be fired for causing the bankruptcy of the local Church. If he were CEO of a corporation (which he is) he would have been sent packing a long time ago. But, alas, this is the Catholic Church which has no responsibility to the shareholders.
I often feel torn when it comes to lawsuits, fair compensation, sexual abuse, and diocesan bankruptcy. Sometimes I resent that a diocese can declare bankruptcy and sidestep the spirit of delivering full justice to victims. The reality is, these cases often involve abuse from decades ago by priests no longer serving, and bishops or others who helped cover it up are long gone. Money cannot mend the broken hearts and spirits of those abused, and never will. The question is, how do we create changes that are genuine, effective, and lasting? Members need to trust that there are no sexual abusers among the clergy, but so far, I don’t think the Church has done enough to make that belief convincing.
Human nature doesn’t change. We can never “trust” there are no abusive clergy because they’re human beings that can fall. But we can hope that any future cases of abuse will immediately be turned over to law enforcement. Which is what should have happened previously.
A lot of my professional career has involved what is called “risk management” There’s risks we simply can’t eliminate, but we can only abate. We can make a high inherent risk thing, far, far less likely with appropriate control measures.
Nobody ever stopped to consider that somebody with these sort of deviant tendencies would enter the priesthood, there was a time when a priest was considered a saint in training.
Nobody understood that being a priest was almost and ideal job for pedophiles or ephebophiles. Clerical celibacy allowed the cover for the absence of a wife, and the job provided access to children. We should not be deluded however, that it is only the priesthood that provided access to victims for deviants. Other religious traditions, education, sports, political office and scouting were all exploited by sexual Willie Suttons.
There are two types of controls that can be employed. First, preventative controls-but be assured, some people can “put on an act” and evade the testing of the discernment process.
It would be nice if this could be 100% percent effective, but nothing is, so. In this case, the “lavender mafia” and libertinism may have actually engaged in override. See Goodbye, Good Men: How Liberals Brought Corruption into the Catholic Church Paperback – March 10, 2015 by Michael S. Rose (Author)
The second type of control is a “detective control”, which when you effectively identify incidents and then take measures to minimize the effects of occurrences and prevent additional offenses. It is clear here that there was a failure. First off, some Bishops too readily accepted that perpetrators had psychological problems that could be addressed permanently with behavioral therapies-even after observing recidivism after treatment.
Secondly, it is clear that many played “musical parishes” with offenders due to the belief that the principal concern was institutional reputation, rather than victim protection, so they was often addressed complaints with financial compensation and a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Had there been a “one-strike rule” and referral to civil authorities for criminal prosecution, the repeat-offenses that padded the statistics could have been avoided.
These derelictions of duty are disturbing enough, but there’s an additional concern that these sorts of delinquencies extend to other aspects of the exercise of episcopal office. If you don’t know what to do, you often don’t know what NOT to do as a Bishop-and there’s plenty of evidence that many Bishops are doing that.
You brought up some good points, Mr. Pitchfork.
My aunt “Sally” grew up with my mother in a depression time frame Methodist home. They were at the church and were set to leave, but there was not enough room in the vehicle, and the kids had possibly
walked there earlier. The pastor, a married father of 4, told Sally (14 or 15) to jump in his car and he’d run her home the one mile. She later said that she couldn’t slide over far enough against the passenger door and that was the longest mile ride of her life.
So yes, as you mention, you can’t let your guard down.
Yes, knowall, thank you. It’s a fallen human nature issue, not just a Catholic priest or SSA issue.
We had a terrible serial child molester in a former parish who was married with children. They taught CCD classes & were involved in every church & community organization possible. Even head of the KC at one time.
Sexual predators will do all sorts of things to gain trust & respectability in a parish or community.
Marriage isn’t a cure for deviancy but it can be used as a cover.
Looking at the financials of El Paso summarized between 2021 and 2023 (most recent years available).
Expenses grew from $12.3M to $15.0M while total support and revenue went $13.8M to $14.1M.
Parish assessments went from $1.7M to $2.3M, I’m guessing the pastors have been squeezed enough.
That’s a recipe for “very limited” resources.
This toxically lethal disease that has permeated the entirety of the Catholic Church from top to bottom reminds me of what our Lord says in the Book of Sirach, “I set before you fire and water. To whichever you stretch forth your hand, it will be given you.”
I suspect that these abusers and sodomites don’t think about either short term or eternal consequences. They are all about getting away with instant gratification, regardless of the lifelong effects and consequences born by the victims.
They can’t look beyond their next “fix”.
These kind of people are seriously broken from very early in life.
The institutionalization of such corrupt behavior within the Church by those in charge of seminaries, colleges, all the way up the ladder to the papacy, is where the problem is rooted.
At this point, no single individual or group of individuals can even begin to clean house.
We are at a point where only God can repair the damage and set things right.
To do that will take a great chastisement that will bring destruction such that next to nothing will be left standing.
Only then, from the ashes, will God raise up a holy, spotless and purified Church.
I see no alternative.
As long as our Church leaders play nice with deviants, and then apologize for deviant behavior, we’re going to have problems. If we cleaned up all sexual issues, the world will come after us with another charge. We’ve become like Europe, guilty until proven innocent. Sad