Records show that the Archdiocese of New Orleans, whose finances have been strained by the mounting cost of unresolved-clergy abuse lawsuits and the coronavirus-related shutdown of church services, filed for bankruptcy in New Orleans' federal courthouse just after midnight, NOLA.com reported. The archdiocese serving half a million New Orleans-area parishioners joins more than two dozen other dioceses and Catholic religious orders across the U.S. who have sought financial protection from creditors since the clergy-abuse scandal boiled over in 2002. Pressure from creditors — including investors of more than $38 million in bonds and abuse victims pushing claims that could potentially cost millions of dollars — could force Archbishop Gregory Aymond and other church leaders into difficult choices resembling the post-Hurricane Katrina reorganization plan that shuttered dozens of churches and merged parishes across metro New Orleans. The archdiocese's bankruptcy filing comes amid widespread shutdowns which officials implemented to slow the spread of the highly contagious, potentially deadly coronavirus — but which also devastated various institutions’ bottom lines. Filings early today listed between $100 million and $500 million in both assets and liabilities for the archdiocese, which is being represented by <b>Mark Mintz</b> of Jones Walker. According to prior filings, some specific church assets include a $306 million endowment and $77 million worth of land and buildings whose market value may actually be much higher.
