Archdiocese hands over deeds to 124 parishes

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Catholic Archdiocese of Portland is sorting out who owns hundreds of millions of dollars in church property and handing the deeds over to its 124 parishes. The change is required by the bankruptcy settlement in April 2007 between the archdiocese and claimants. As part of the deal, parishes should have received the legal titles of their real property, including churches, schools and meetings halls, by the end of April. Until now, almost all parish real estate deeds were in the name of the archdiocese.

During two-year bankruptcy proceedings, the archdiocese argued that parish real estate could not be sold for the settlement because it was held in trust for the parishes. The restructuring is one of the last requirements that the archdiocese must fulfill in the $75 million bankruptcy settlement that provided financial relief for about 175 people who say they were sexually abused by priests. In 2004, the Portland Archdiocese became the first U.S. Catholic diocese to declare bankruptcy; four other dioceses later followed suit.