BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Catholic Diocese now faces 246 Child Victim Act lawsuits and has just revealed that it lost almost $5 million last year.
Those two facts alone would have been enough to revive a question that's been dogging the diocese for the better part of two years: will it file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection?
Then this week, the annual financial report on the finances of the diocese described a bankruptcy filing as "imminent."
Bishop Edward Scharfenberger earlier this month described bankruptcy as "all but inevitable."
But spokesman Gregory Tucker insists that an official decision has not been made yet.
During a brief telephone conversation, Tucker added there would be no big announcements coming on "Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday."
So, Western New York Catholics will wait even though it appears a bankruptcy announcement is all the more likely.