Last year at this time the Archdiocese of Portland exited bankruptcy after the court approved its Plan of Reorganization. We were very fortunate in being able to compensate claimants and to continue the operations of the archdiocese, its parishes and other institutions. The archdiocese, of course, was forced to downsize in order to remain solvent. But throughout the two years, nine months and eleven days of bankruptcy, we carried on our evangelizing mission, thanks to you.

So many plans and projects were put on hold during those long months of bankruptcy. But in the past year it seems that our parishes and schools really pulled together and did not forget about strengthening and expanding their resources for mission. The Archdiocesan Building Commission and Loan Commission are again back in business. I can recall one Christmas luncheon during the bankruptcy when the members of the Building Commission acknowledged that they had held only one meeting the previous year, so limited was their agenda. That has all changed.

As part of the Plan of Reorganization the archdiocese was committed to restructure in such a way that the parishes would be legally separate and distinct from the archdiocese itself under civil law as they are under canon law. Up until now we have operated as a corporation sole with the bishop as the member. Even though the language of incorporation back in 1872 made it very clear that the bishop was to govern this corporation according to the directives of canon law, that argument was challenged by plaintiffs’ attorneys who held that the bishop could seize properties from any entity in the archdiocese and use them as he wished, including for the settlement of lawsuits. This presented us with quite a conundrum and, if no other avenue of compensation were available, I would have been forced to choose between my duties as a Catholic bishop and those which are mine as a citizen.

A special advisory group was established to assist me in determining what legal structure would be most appropriate for us. Our Vicar General, Msgr. Dennis O’Donovan, chaired the committee working to look at our parish structure and Robert Mizia, our superintendent of Catholic Schools, chaired a committee that reviewed this matter concerning our three archdiocesan Catholic high schools, Central Catholic in Portland, Regis in Stayton and Marist in Eugene. The advisory group was instructed to make a recommendation that would 1) be consistent with canon law and best mirror the canonical structures under which parishes presently operate; and 2) clarify under civil law the separation of assets of each parish one from another and from those of the archdiocese. The same instructions were given to the committee looking at the Catholic high schools.

In the end each advisory committee recommended that a “member corporation” be established. This is a well-accepted form of corporate organization for non-profit entities. I asked our pastors to distribute a letter to all our parishes on the Sunday after Easter explaining this new structure. Each parish will, therefore, be structured as a separate non-profit member corporation with the Archbishop of Portland in Oregon in his capacity as archbishop, designated as the sole member.

Furthermore, each parish corporation will have a five-person Board of Directors. Three members will serve by virtue of their religious office, the pastor, the vicar general and a member of the college of consultors. Each parish corporation will also have two appointed directors, typically representatives from the parish finance council and the parish pastoral council. Similarly the Board of Directors of each high school corporation will have ex-officio directors and appointed directors from the school community.

As far as the operations of any parish or school are concerned, there will be no noticeable difference. The archbishop and pastors will have the same authority they had before, consistent with canon law. The parish finance and pastoral councils will remain the principal advisory bodies for pastors in directing parish operations. This structure makes it clear that each parish is a separate juridic person with its own rights and obligations and that each parish has property owned separately and distinctly from that of the archdiocese and from every other parish.

The archdiocese will continue to assist parishes in managing their affairs. A “services agreement” will be adopted between each parish and the archdiocese to insure that the same benefits and services provided now will be provided in the future. Much work remains to be done so that all involved will understand their duties and responsibilities. Further briefings and education will be made available in the near future.

Another agreement was the release of documents in the church’s possession which claimants’ attorneys said would assist their clients in healing. You know from the media that it has not been easy to reach consensus about which documents are appropriate for release and which ones are not. The archdiocese has already released many documents and there was much public discussion in the media about that release several months ago. There was concurrence about a process for determining which of the remaining documents should be released. It involved again the use of mediation, but some of the old animosities were revived and people walked away from the mediation table last fall. You probably read in the press how two of the attorneys stated publicly that they never really believed the archdiocese would do what I said we would do. They know, of course, that this is far from the truth, but debunking our integrity seems to be a strategy that won’t go away. We are back in mediation, and, one way or another, a decision will be made about the release of documents.

Finally, we know that the Plan of Reorganization provided that the archdiocese establish a $20 million future claims fund. Since the exit of bankruptcy, some such claims have now been filed. We shall defend them appropriately. These claims will be resolved in federal district court and I have confidence in our attorneys and my staff to do a fair job and treat all claimants with compassion and respect.
Please continue to pray for the success of our church’s evangelizing mission in this post-bankruptcy era. The archdiocese once again was found to be fully compliant with all the procedures the American bishops established for the protection of children and assistance to victims.

Our third audit took place last year and I am grateful for everyone’s cooperation.
Interestingly, many people still do not know what the church has done in responding to this crisis.

I need your help to spread that good news. These are not the kinds of stories you will find in our daily newspapers.

As a result, too many people, including most Catholics, are still unaware of the progress we have made.

God bless you all.