SPOKANE — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane said yesterday it does not own its parish churches and so they cannot be used to pay alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests.

The diocese filed documents in U.S. Bankruptcy Court challenging the assertion by victims that Bishop William Skylstad owns the 81 churches, 16 schools, one high school and 79 other Catholic assets in the sprawling region.

The diocese, which faces lawsuits filed by 58 alleged victims of sexual abuse, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December, listing assets of $11.1 million and liabilities of $81.3 million — the vast majority of the liabilities being sexual-abuse claims.

In April, the plaintiffs asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia Williams to rule that the 81 parish churches and other Catholic entities in Eastern Washington were owned by the bishop and thus available to settle the claims.

The diocese has asked Williams to instead rule that Skylstad controls only the roughly $11 million worth of assets that belong specifically to the diocese.

A hearing is scheduled for June 27, in which Williams is expected to either rule in favor of one of the motions or order a trial on the issue of who really owns the church property.

That will be a closely watched decision as other Catholic dioceses across the nation deal with lawsuits regarding sexual abuse by priests.

Catholic dioceses in Portland and Tucson, Ariz., also filed for bankruptcy protection in the wake of a nationwide scandal involving sexual abuse by clergymen. The issue of who owns parish buildings has not been settled in those cases.

The Spokane Diocese believes that state, federal and canon law is clear that the bishop holds in trust title to parishes and some other assets, but does not actually own them, said Shaun Cross, an attorney for the diocese.