FLORENCE, Ore. — About 300 parishioners of St. Mary's Our Lady of the Dunes Catholic Church have filed legal claims against the Archdiocese of Portland to get back funds for a building project that were frozen when the archdiocese declared bankruptcy.

Because of legal claims of more than $500 million alleging sex abuse by priests and other employees, the Portland archdiocese became the first in the country to seek bankruptcy protection.

The archdiocese, which legally owns the assets of 124 parishes in Western Oregon, declared that anyone with a claim against it must file by tomorrow in advance of a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing next month.

"We decided we needed a show of force — to let the court know we gave our money for a specific purpose, and we don't see it being used that way," said Ken Janowski, the church's fund-raising chairman. "There seems to be no justice in the justice system — at least not for us."

Eugene attorneys Thomas Hoyt and Wilson Muhlheim filed a motion for a hearing before a bankruptcy judge to plead the parish's case. Claims of donations ranging from $100 to $50,000 for the building campaign were submitted Tuesday, Muhlheim told The Register-Guard of Eugene.

Muhlheim said the church kept meticulous records and he can "trace every dime contributed for that building." The Florence congregation's $775,000 building fund is part of $3.7 million that various parishes across the region placed in an archdiocesan loan investment fund that has been frozen.