CNA Staff, Nov 3, 2025 /
11:37 am
The Catholic Diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday, Oct. 31, making it the 41st U.S. diocese to seek court-supervised reorganization in the wake of clergy sexual abuse claims.
Bishop Robert Marshall Jr., who has led the 50-parish diocese in central Louisiana since 2020, announced the petition in a letter and video posted to the diocese’s website.
“As your bishop, I apologize to abuse survivors for the harm, pain, and suffering they experienced and continue to experience in their lives,” Marshall wrote. “This action is occurring because some past priest-perpetrators sexually abused minors, actions that are evil, sinful, and go against everything the Church and the priesthood represent.”
Eighty-five survivors have already filed claims, according to the diocese, with more expected after the court sets a bar date. More than half the allegations date to the 1970s or earlier; nearly every named perpetrator is deceased.
A 2021 Louisiana law temporarily lifted the statute of limitations, triggering the surge in claims. The law allows victims to pursue civil damages indefinitely for abuse occurring on or after June 14, 1992, or where the victim was a minor as of June 14, 2021, with a three-year filing window (which ended June 14, 2024) for older cases.
The diocese lists $16.7 million in assets and $9.5 million in liabilities. It pledges $4 million plus limited insurance proceeds to a victim compensation trust. “The diocese believes it can contribute $4 million to a plan trust that will be used to compensate abuse survivors,” according to the frequently asked questions section of the diocese’s website.
Chapter 11 will freeze all pending lawsuits and funnel them into one court-supervised settlement. “Without a structured process of this kind, funds would be exhausted in the first settlements or cases that go to trial, leaving nothing for all the other claims waiting to be heard,” the diocese explained.
Parishes, which are separately incorporated from the diocese, remain untouched by the bankruptcy filing. Restricted donations, including the annual diocesan appeal and seminarian funds, are protected, and daily Masses, parish schools, and charities continue uninterrupted.
The bankruptcy filing comes as the diocese, experiencing declining numbers of priests, seminarians, and Mass attendance, is in the midst of a reorganization plan launched in 2024 titled “Together as One Church: Embracing the Future of Hope.” The plan will entail “closures and reconfigurations” of parishes and missions, according to the diocese.
In this context, Marshall, after consulting the priest council, finance council, and the Vatican, called the Chapter 11 filing “the most prudent course.”
The case, filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana, is projected to last 18 to 24 months and cost $1 million to $2 million in fees — far less than larger dioceses.
In 2019, the diocese published names of credibly accused clerics and has adopted the U.S. bishops’ safe environment policy. “We remain committed to transparency,” Marshall said.
The Alexandria filing follows the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ $230 million settlement last week.
Amira Abuzeid is a senior editor at Catholic News Agency.
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