The Diocese of El Paso, Texas, on March 7 celebrated its annual Mass of Atonement and Hope for survivors of clergy sex abuse, a Mass that took on added significance this year because the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the day before amid abuse claims.
Local FOX News affiliate KFOX14 reported that Bishop Mark Seitz said the Mass had been scheduled for months, long before the decision to file for bankruptcy was made. Attended by abuse survivors, families, and parishioners, the Mass served as an opportunity for the faithful to pray for and support the survivors.
In a March 6 letter to parishioners, Bishop Seitz said that the diocese is currently facing 18 lawsuits filed over alleged abuse that occurred between 1956 and 1982 in southern New Mexico. According to El Paso Matters, the area was part of the diocese at the time.
He said he made the decision to file for bankruptcy after discussing it with his priest consultors and diocesan advisors and taking it to prayer. He said the diocese has two goals in making the filing: equitably compensating the abuse survivors and continuing to provide essential spiritual care to the faithful across the diocese.
“The Diocese of El Paso’s financial resources are very limited,” Bishop Seitz said. “Chapter 11 reorganization will allow the Diocese of El Paso to use its available resources to compensate abuse survivors in a single process overseen by a court, that seeks to treat all equitably.”
The bishop also said that the bankruptcy filing is a “final call for legal claims against the diocese,” which will allow the diocese to move forward with more financial stability after the survivors have been compensated.
Bishop Seitz acknowledged that the filing may result in feelings of anger, resentment, or frustration and apologized in the letter to the abuse survivors “for the harm, pain and suffering they experienced and continue to experience in their lives.”
“It is my prayer that through this process we can reconcile with each other and walk together towards the loving presence of Jesus Christ in our midst,” he continued.
El Paso Matters reported that some survivors view the filing as an attempt by the diocese to avoid accountability. Though Bishop Seitz told the outlet that the diocese is not seeing “it as a way to duck out of our responsibility,” abuse survivor Isaac Melendrez, Jr. told El Paso Matters that the diocese is serving its own interests.
“Today, just like in the past, the diocese is only doing what is best for them. By filing for bankruptcy, they have removed the opportunity for us to hold them accountable for their failures in a court of law,” he said. “Bankruptcy brings no justice to the victims, only blanket protection to the diocese.”
The outlet additionally reported that Wouter Zwart, an attorney representing some of the survivors, including Melendrez, said the filing “feels like another delay tactic, even if there’s light at the end of the road of this process.”
In his letter, Bishop Seitz said he will be transparent and candid about the process of resolving the abuse claims and remarked that he anticipates it will be “a difficult journey.” He said he is inspired to continue on the path to reconciliation by the “vitality of the faith” within the diocese and promised continued prayers for the Church in El Paso.
“We will move forward, not forgetting our past, but addressing it and taking appropriate responsibility for those who were harmed,” he concluded. “Let us place our trust in God, who is our strength and our hope, and who is with us always.”