Settled: $198 million

At their June 2003 meeting, Bishop Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska, reportedly called his colleagues "this hapless bench of bishops." That left open the question How hapless are they? Sandi Dolbee and Mark Sauer in the San Diego Union-Tribune provide the answer. So hapless that one of them tried to put his diocese through bankruptcy, and couldn't.

The bankruptcy was filed due to lawsuits by people claiming priests sexually abused them as children.

Much of the hostility from victims and their lawyers was focused on the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing Feb. 27, one day before the first trial was to start.

An attorney for the claimants said financial disclosures required by bankruptcy resulted in the diocese having to pay $40-50 million more than they would have accepted before the filing. A spokesman for the diocese said the bankruptcy will cost the diocese well over $5 million in legal fees.

These lawsuits were possible because of a change in California law temporarily abolishing the statute of limitations on sexual abuse claims. It's not impossible for the same to happen in Wisconsin. Which again leaves me wondering why the Archdiocese of Milwaukee still has claims unresolved.