Portland parishes, schools will become separate legal entities

Published: 2007-10-29

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- The Archdiocese of Portland has begun work on restructuring itself under civil law. After a consultation process, parishes and archdiocesan high schools will be organized into separate legal entities, though they will clearly still be part of the archdiocesan family. The restructuring is part of the financial reorganization plan church leaders submitted in U.S. bankruptcy court. In April a federal judge approved the plan and a $75 million settlement of clergy sexual abuse claims. In a letter sent to parishioners in September, Archbishop John G. Vlazny said the step aims to organize parishes and schools under civil law in a way that "best mirrors the governance model of church law" and to clarify that assets of parishes are separate from those of the archdiocese. The court-approved plan may include abandonment of the corporation-sole model, a legal entity consisting of a single incorporated office. Many religious groups have used that section of old English law to allow legal powers to pass smoothly from one holder of high office to the next; in the archdiocese's case it was the office of archbishop. But, as Archbishop Vlazny told parishioners, the structure caused confusion that prolonged the bankruptcy and "diminished our financial resources significantly."

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