Judge Orders Trials in Church Suits

NYTimes.com

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- When the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego filed for bankruptcy in February, abruptly halting multiple sex-abuse lawsuits on the eve of trial, Michael Bang thought his chance for a day in court was gone.

On Friday, a federal bankruptcy judge revived hope for Bang, ruling that 42 cases be sent back to state courts for immediate jury trials.

''Doing that in February really reaffirmed to me how significant the cover-up is,'' said Bang, a 46-year-old Atlanta man who says he spent years of his boyhood as a sex slave to a reverend monsignor. ''They want to do anything they can within the legal system to stop it, but all it's done is made me more committed to telling the truth.''

So, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego filed for bankruptcy just to avoid having the truth about their priest's sexual deviancy exposed to light. Huh, just doesn't seem to jive with the whole confession is good for the soul ideology of Catholicism.