Paragons of Virtue Arrested

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It's time to name and shame the self-proclaimed paragons of virtue. Keep it civil, though.

Stories are about those who have been placed in positions of trust, and then abused that trust.

Feel free to add stories of the self-righteous from other walks of life.

New rule: With regard to stories of particularly, but not only, female teachers sexually assaulting students. Any comments similar to "where were they when I was in school" will earn you the right to find another forum.

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Catholic dioceses are declaring bankruptcy. Abuse survivors say it’s a ‘way to silence’ them (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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In Oakland, California, the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Christ the Light is difficult to miss. Towering over Lake Merritt in the heart of the city, its modernist glass dome reflects the East Bay sun in all directions.

The building, which was completed in 2008 and financed by the Roman Catholic diocese of Oakland, cost $175m. But that price tag confounds Joseph Piscitelli.

In the 1970s, Piscitelli attended a Catholic high school in nearby Richmond, where, from the age of 14, he experienced repeated sexual abuse at the hands of his vice-principal, an ordained priest. For decades, Piscitelli experienced nightmares and panic attacks. Friends who had also been abused turned to drugs and alcohol, and several took their own lives.

In 2003, Piscitelli sued the Salesian College Preparatory high school and the Salesian order, and won. While the cases were decided in his favor in 2006, they had not held leaders at the top accountable. So, in 2020, he filed a new suit, this time against the Oakland diocese.

Then, to Piscitelli’s dismay, the diocese declared bankruptcy in May. As a result, his case was put on an indefinite hold.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

But declaring chapter 11 does not mean that the church is broke, said Marie Reilly, professor of law at Penn State University. Rather, it is a legal strategy undertaken by corporations that say they don’t have the funds to pay a high number of individual settlements. Known as “reorganization”, these bankruptcy protections let the church avoid undertaking dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of individual costly trials by grouping them into one settlement.