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Diocese of Harrisburg files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Bishop Ronald Gainer made the announcement Wednesday afternoon.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg has filed for bankruptcy.

The announcement came Wednesday from the Bishop of Harrisburg about the diocese that covers several counties in our area, and it comes after lawsuits connected to the child sex abuse scandal.

Bishop Ronald Gainer says the diocese finances are just not sustainable, especially after the scandal involving priests. Now that diocese is filing for bankruptcy.

The Diocese of Harrisburg is the first in Pennsylvania to file for bankruptcy protection in the wake of the scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report released by the attorney general in 2018. That report uncovered a widespread culture of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania.

Since that grand jury report almost two years ago, the Diocese of Harrisburg has been hit with claims filed by dozens of alleged victims.

RELATED: Attorney general lists dozens of priests accused of sex abuse in grand jury report

Bishop Gainer says that filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection will allow the diocese to continue its work now and into the future, while also still compensating survivors.

About six months ago, the Diocese of Harrisburg announced it had paid out $12 million to more than 100 victims of clergy sex abuse. Those payouts, plus the potential for more still to come, threatened the diocese's survival.

"My hope and prayers are that while we may face some troubling days ahead, our diocese will be able to restructure our finances and our operations and come out stronger in the future than we are today," said Bishop Gainer.

The bankruptcy filing means that all unresolved lawsuits involving the Diocese of Harrisburg will essentially be put on hold while a court decides how much the diocese can afford to pay survivors.

The attorney for the Diocese of Harrisburg says that the move to file for bankruptcy protection will not affect the day to day operations of the diocese. However, both he and Bishop Gainer say there is no way to predict what the Diocese of Harrisburg will look like at the end of this process.

The Diocese of Harrisburg includes five counties in our viewing area: Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, and Union.

Newswatch 16 reached out to the Diocese of Scranton as well, which has faced its own legal battles after the 2018 grand jury report. The Diocese of Scranton says it expects to fully fund all of the claims filed with its Survivors Compensation Program and is not considering filing for bankruptcy.

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