Northwest Jesuits file for bankruptcy

The Jesuit order in the Northwest, beset by lawsuits alleging numerous instances of sexual abuse dating back decades, has filed for bankruptcy.

The Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Portland. The bankruptcy filing lists assets at $4.8 million and liabilities at $61.8 million.

"Our decision to file Chapter 11 was not an easy one, but with approximately 200 additional claims pending or threatened, it is the only way we believe that all claimants can be offered a fair financial settlement within the limited resources of the Province," said the Very Rev. Patrick Lee, head of the province, in a statement.

Province officials have long said that most of the local institutions associated with Jesuits — Seattle University, Gonzaga University, Seattle Preparatory School — are incorporated separately from the province, so bankruptcy should not affect them financially.

But victims' attorneys believe otherwise, and they have contended the Jesuits own the schools' assets.

For years now, the province — which covers Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Montana and Idaho — has received a growing number of allegations of past abuses.

Most of those incidents took place in Alaska, where more than 170 Alaska Natives have filed lawsuits saying they were sexually abused years ago by Jesuits or those supervised by Jesuits.

A plaintiffs' attorney called the remote Alaskan villages a "pedophile's paradise," a dumping ground for troubled priests — a characterization provincial leaders have repeatedly rejected.

Still, the province settled with 110 Alaska Native victims for $50 million last year — with $45 million paid by the province's insurers.

Since January, 63 more Alaska Natives have filed suit, and their lawyers said many more suits are pending.

"The Oregon Jesuits are using the bankruptcy courts to selfishly avoid litigation that will prove provincial leadership used Alaska Native villages as a dumping ground for sexual predators," said plaintiffs' attorney John Manly. "This bankruptcy has nothing to do with finances — the Jesuits are one of the wealthiest religious organizations in the United States. This filing is about protecting the hierarchy and those who covered up for abusers."

In Washington state, settlements have included a 2008 agreement to pay $4.8 million to 16 Native Americans sexually and physically abused years ago by a Jesuit priest and Jesuit brother when they were students at a boarding school near Omak.

Other settlements in this state have involved the Rev. John Leary, former president of Gonzaga University, and the Revs. Michael Toulouse and Englebert Axer, both former Seattle U professors.

The Oregon Province has said for more than a year now that bankruptcy was something it was considering.

Since 2001, according to the province, it has settled more than 200 claims and paid more than $25 million from its own resources. That amount does not include additional payments made by its insurers.

The Society of Jesus was founded some 450 years ago by St. Ignatius of Loyola. The order is perhaps best known for its far-flung mission work, intellectual rigor and prestigious schools, including Georgetown University, Boston College, Seattle U and Gonzaga U.

Janet I. Tu: 206-464-2272 or jtu@seattletimes.com