Regarding: "Are parish assets immune from liquidation?"
- Perhaps the reason why this question is asked is that early on in the discovery by the laity of the rape of children and molestation of young people by clergy, the episcopate in the US said often that the transfer of diocesan wealth to the victims would not come from the 'collection basket'. Thus implying somehow that the assets of the diocese were separate from work and beneficence of the laity.
- Canon law requires that each parish be its own separate civil entity. However in almost all US dioceses the parishes are part and parcel of the 'bishop, corporate', or some other civil entity that can be manipulated in similar manner.
- So, the short answer is, parish assets are not immune from liquidation. Further, it is conceivable that the bankruptcy court can take a percentage of each collection in the parish to meet the diocese's legal obligation. Legislatures certainly can lay a legal foundation to further enable this.