Spokane diocese appeals court ruling

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane and an association of parishes filed appeals yesterday of a federal bankruptcy court judge's decision that said parish churches are owned by the diocese and can therefore be sold to pay settlements to sex-abuse victims.

Judge Patricia Williams' Aug. 26 ruling was considered a big loss for the diocese and its 80-plus parishes, which had argued that, following church law, the properties belong to individual parishes, not to the diocese.

In its appeal yesterday, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, the diocese argued that Williams erred on several issues, including not giving church law sufficient weight in determining parish ownership, said Shaun Cross, a bankruptcy attorney for the diocese. Cross also contends Williams did not consider all the evidence offered by the church on who owns the parishes.

But James Stang, an attorney for the abuse victims, said in a statement that "Judge Williams spent two months reviewing hundreds of pages of pleadings and her order reflects a careful and thoughtful consideration of all the parties' arguments. ...

"Both Spokane victims and Spokane Catholics would be better served if [Spokane Bishop William] Skylstad would dedicate his efforts and resources toward fairly resolving sex-abuse cases so that real healing can begin."

Janet I. Tu: 206-464-2272 or jtu@seattletimes.com