The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup, N.M., plans to file for chapter 11 this month to cope with its mounting litigation costs arising from claims of child sexual abuse by members of its clergy, Reuters reported yesterday. The Gallup Diocese, which includes several Native American reservations, would become the ninth U.S. diocese or archdiocese to file for bankruptcy protection since 2004 due to the financial fallout from child molestation cases against the church. Child sex abuse litigation has cost the U.S. Catholic Church some $3 billion in settlements in the two decades since the ongoing scandal erupted with a series of molestation cases uncovered in Boston in 1992. In a letter read to parishioners over the weekend, Gallup Bishop James S. Wall denied that the diocese was filing for chapter 11 "to avoid responsibility for what happened or to hide anything." Covering 53 parishes in a geographic area of more than 55,000 square miles, Gallup ranks as the poorest diocese in the U.S.
