Skip over global navigation

Oregon Territory

April 20, 2007 — Archdiocese Sex Abuse Settlement

part one part two

download links: part one | part two

It took 33 months, 89 lawyers, and 18 million dollars in attorneys fees. But the Archdiocese of Portland is finally out of bankruptcy court. Checks totaling 50 million dollars go out ext month to victims of clergy sex abuse. But that's not the end of the story. Church officials will begin releasing the personnel files of accused priests next month. Those papers will detail accusations against priests, but also what church officials did about them at the time. Bankruptcy court doesn't provide something that's less quantifiable — healing.

This week's Oregon Territory will include a timeline of the Archdiocese of Portland bankruptcy case...what happened, why, and where do the church, parishioners, and victims of clergy sex abuse go next?

Host: Colin Fogarty

Interviews:

  • Archbishop of Portland John Vlazny
  • John Rickman, chair a committee representing 400,000 Catholic parishioners.
  • Andrea Coles-Bjerre, a former bankruptcy attorney who teaches bankruptcy law at the University of Oregon.
  • Steven Walsh, a member of a committee of clergy sex abuse victims in the bankruptcy case.

Links:

© 2009, Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Search · Inside OPB · Report Reception Problems · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact Us · Pressroom · Employment · Community · Audio Streams · RSS Feeds


PBSNPRPRIBBC