The San Diego diocese allegedly transferred hundreds of properties in 2019 in a scheme to lessen any potential payments to claimants alleging they were sexually abused by clergy.
A sweeping lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court accuses the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego of a scheme to fraudulently transfer hundreds of properties to avoid potentially large payouts stemming from a new wave of lawsuits alleging abuse by clergy members.
The suit seeks to cancel each of the transactions. That would put them back under the domain of Cardinal Robert McElroy, the leader of the diocese, and make them available to claimants seeking compensation from the church. While that 2018 bill passed the legislature, then-Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it. But when newly-elected Newsom signeda year later in October 2019, the diocese transferred via grant deeds the properties into the real estate holding companies, with no money changing hands, according to the lawsuit. Zalkin also provided a copy of a deed showing no money was exchanged in a Sept. 13, 2019, transaction involving Sacred Heart Church in Ocean Beach.
In a statement, Kevin C. Eckery, director of media and community relations for the diocese, said the passage of AB 218 had nothing to do with the diocese’s actions. He said that since the diocese was founded in 1936, and under church cannon law, the assets of each parish have been considered separate and independent from the diocese itself.
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