Crime

Long Island Catholic Diocese Files For Bankruptcy Amid Sex Abuse Cases

The Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York covering Long Island is facing at least 200 sex abuse lawsuits.

Long Island Catholic Diocese Files For Bankruptcy Amid Sex Abuse Cases
Mark Lennihan / AP
SMS

A Roman Catholic diocese just outside New York City is now the latest to declare bankruptcy.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre is facing a flood of lawsuits, at least 200 in all.

Most of those suits came in after New York suspended the statute of limitations on lawsuits over sexual abuse by priests.

That diocese covers most of Long Island and counts 1.4 million Catholics. 

It's filing for Chapter 11 protection to try to settle all those lawsuits at once, officials said.