On Dec. 30, 2005, the Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., headed by Archbishop John Vlazny, lost an important preliminary round in its bankruptcy case. The diocese now finds itself facing hard choices, as does Spokane’s Bishop William Skylstad and his diocese, which suffered a major legal defeat in

Could the gargantuan financial burdens from settling and losing the numerous sexual abuse cases force the Catholic Church in the United States into bankruptcy? Not if one thinks of the American Catholic Church as a national entity. But it is possible that a particular American diocese, or a part the