Buffalo Diocese Bankrupt Amid Hundreds Of Lawsuits

The Buffalo News reports:

The Buffalo Diocese, awash with lawsuits alleging child sex abuse by priests, nuns and others, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday, marking another chapter in a scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in Western New York since early 2018.

The Buffalo Diocese already is named as a defendant in 260 cases, more than any other institution in the state, and potentially faces huge losses if the cases go to trial.

“We’re going to be OK,” Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger said Friday morning inside the Robert H. Jackson U.S. Courthouse prior to a hearing before Chief U.S. Western District of New York Bankruptcy Court Judge Carl Bucki. “We’re trying to do the right thing.”