San Francisco Archdiocese is bankrupt
They face over 500 sexual abuse lawsuits
They shielded more than 30 known predator priests
…who went on to molest countless other children
They received PPP loan money - which was forgiven
…while paying over $87 million to keep survivors of abuse quiet
Money is the way to hurt the church
And the Catholic Church deserves to get fucked against its will.
https://hermanlaw.com/predator-priest-index/california/archdiocese-of-san-francisco/
@flexghost I'm always interested to see what a bankruptcy court does with church judicatories. There is a real Boat-full-of-fish problem in that the primary asset of the entity is the good will of the parishioners of the member congregations, and the judge must take into consideration how not to destroy the value of that good will while negotiating the settlement.
@patmikemid @flexghost And how much do you believe members will put in the plate when they have no priests and the money the donate doesn't support the ministry or maintain the congregation? Do you thing Fr. O'Brian will work hard to take up that second collection when he's not getting a stipend?
But even if you wanted to you cannot make this work because parishes are separate corporations with independent finances who pay support to higher levels of the church. St. Mary's Main St. is not part of the bankruptcy, just the archdiocese. The archdiocese will have some liquid assets and investments, and probably has some office space, but they do not own the individual church buildings.
This is not the 15 c. where churches have feudal lands that provide income that can be taken by the crown. On the west coast 95% of all church revenue is from voluntary contributions. Destroy the congregations or even significantly hobble them and that voluntary giving drys up instantly.
@antares @flexghost - I'm good with 100 years of 100% of the weekly collection from all churches, $0 pay for any clergy, and sale of 80% of all catholic church property in the archdiocese,