c. 2006 Religion News Service
Davenport Becomes Fourth Diocese to Declare Bankruptcy
(RNS) The Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday (Oct. 10), becoming the fourth U.S. diocese to pursue the financial shelter because of costly sexual abuse litigation.
“I and the leadership of the diocese believe that, as difficult as this decision is, it provides the best opportunity for healing and for the just and fair compensation of those who have suffered sexual abuse by clergy in our diocese,” Davenport Bishop William Franklin said in a statement.
The diocese is facing 25 claims of sexual abuse by clergy, according to the diocese. Since 2004, the diocese has paid more than $10.5 million to resolve dozens of claims filed against abusive priests, according to the Associated Press.
But a new set of accusations against former Bishop Lawrence Soens has led the diocese to seek financial protection through filing for bankruptcy, according to the AP. The first trial against Soens was scheduled to begin Oct. 23, but may now dismissed because of the bankruptcy filing, according to the alleged victims’ attorney.
“I think it’s a sad day for victims of clergy abuse in the Davenport Diocese as well as its parishioners,” Craig Levien, the victims’ lawyer, told the AP. “I believe it’s just an unnecessary step … with the real purpose being an effort to try and eliminate future responsibility.”
The dioceses of Portland, Ore., Spokane, Wash., and Tucson, Ariz., have also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
_ Daniel Burke
Brownback Holds Nomination Because of Role in Gay Union Ceremony
WASHINGTON (RNS) Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., has put a hold on the nomination of a Michigan appeals court judge to the federal bench out of concern that she participated in a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Janet T. Neff’s nomination for a seat on the U.S. District Court in Michigan’s Western District, but concerns have arisen over her role in a commitment ceremony between two women four years ago, according to the Associated Press.
Some Michigan Republicans saw Neff’s name in a September 2002 New York Times “Weddings/Celebrations” announcement. She reportedly led the commitment ceremony for Karen Adelman and Mary Curtin with the Rev. Kelly A. Gallagher, a minister of the United Church of Christ.
Commitment ceremonies are symbolic and carry no legal benefits. Massachusetts law did not recognize gay marriages at the time.
Brownback, a member of the Judiciary Committee, wants to know whether there was anything illegal or improper about the ceremony and asked the Justice Department for a formal opinion. He also wants to question Neff about her views on gay marriage and how her actions might shape her judicial philosophy.
“I don’t know what she did,” Brownback told the Associated Press. “That’s why there’s a factual question.”
Roy Speckhardt, executive director of American Humanist Association, also wants the department to issue a formal legal opinion, this one regarding any possible violation of Brownback’s oath of office to uphold the Constitution. He said in an open letter to Brownback that he is concerned the senator violated the constitutional prohibition against a “religious test” for any public office.
“I wish to question you about your religious views and how they might shape your legislative philosophy and motivate any possible religious activism on your part that might contradict the establishment clause of the First Amendment,” Speckhardt said in his letter to Brownback.
A spokesman for Brownback confirmed the senator is holding up Neff’s nomination but did not immediately respond to Speckhardt’s letter.
_ Chansin Bird
Keeler, Injured Priest Released from Italian Hospital
(RNS) Baltimore Cardinal William Keeler and Pennsylvania priest Monsignor Thomas Smith, who were injured in a fatal automobile accident in central Italy on Saturday, were released from a hospital on Tuesday (Oct. 10).
They are recovering at the Pontifical North American College, the American seminary in Rome, pending arrangements for their return to the United States, according to Joseph Aponick a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, Pa.
The two-car accident, which occurred at an intersection near Terni, about 65 miles northeast of Rome, killed the Rev. Bernard Quinn, 78, of Lancaster, Pa., a retired theologian, author and former pastor, who was in the back seat of the vehicle.
Keeler, 75, archbishop of Baltimore and former bishop of Harrisburg, suffered a broken ankle when the other vehicle hit the passenger side where he was seated. Smith, the 75-year-old driver and pastor of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Lancaster, Pa., suffered broken ribs.
Keeler, who has a cast on his ankle, told his office that Smith is experiencing some pain, Aponick said.
The three, who took many domestic and international vacations together through the years, had been touring Italy since Oct. 1.
_ Judith Patton
French Jewish Community Divided Over Role of Women
PARIS (RNS) A debate over whether women can run for leadership positions in the Jewish community has divided Jews in northeastern France, where five women are defying a rabbinical ruling against female candidates in upcoming administrative elections.
The dispute involves the Strasbourg-based Israelite Consistoire of Bas-Rhin, an administrative body representing the Jewish faith in a slice of the bucolic Alsace region along the French/German border.
Late last month, an administrative court in Strasbourg ruled in favor of the women _ who have launched an Internet petition promoting their candidacy and garnered more than 750 signatures. Strasbourg’s grand rabbi, Rene Gutman, has launched an appeal, and administrative elections originally slated for Oct. 22 have been delayed.
Gutman bases his arguments on the region’s unique historical status _ shifting between German and French hands more than a century ago.
The Alsace region was not part of France when the French government passed a 1905 law separating church and state. The legislation is also used as basis for other religious issues _ presumably including the status of women within administrative councils.
“Only the law can modify the law,” Gutman said in remarks carried by France’s leading Le Monde newspaper last month. “We are not competent to modify texts that specify the special status of cults” in France’s Alsace-Moselle region near Germany.
The women have vowed to carry their fight to the end. The consistoire’s Strasbourg-based president, Jean Kahn, previously favored admitting women into the administration.
“To be completely frank, the grand rabbi gave a personal decision,” said consistoire spokeswoman Sylvie Kauffman. “The president of the consistoire wasn’t completely in agreement with the rabbi. But it’s the rabbinical authority that for religious reasons refused. And the consistoire members and president yielded before that decision.”
Kauffman predicted the court would rule on Gutman’s appeal “fairly rapidly.”
_ Elizabeth Bryant
Quote of the Day: Film director Martin Scorsese
(RNS) “I’m a lapsed Catholic. But I am Roman Catholic _ there’s no way out of it.”
_ Film director Martin Scorsese, known for his violent films, speaking about his faith. He was quoted by The Independent, a British newspaper.
KRE/JL END RNS
