August 23, 2023

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone on Monday announced that the archdiocese would be submitting a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Cordileone earlier in August had warned that the filing was “very likely” in response to the “more than 500 civil lawsuits” alleging clerical sexual abuse filed against the archdiocese. A Chapter 11 filing, the archbishop said at the time, would allow the archdiocese to deal with those cases “collectively rather than one at a time,” resulting in both a “faster resolution” of the crisis as well as “fair compensation” for the victims. Among the other U.S. dioceses that have filed for bankruptcy this year include Oakland; Ogdensburg, New York; and Albany, New York. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255156/san-francisco-archdiocese-announces-chapter-11-bankruptcy-filing The dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua sent police and prosecutors on August 19 to evict six Jesuits living near the Jesuit Central American University. The Jesuits showed the officers proof of the order’s ownership but it made little difference and they were ordered to leave. They left without incident, taking with them a few personal items. The Central American Province of the Society of Jesus stated: “We strongly condemn this act of violence against our community and we reaffirm our confidence that the Lord of History will continue to protect the Jesuits of Nicaragua during this difficult period.” The closure of the university has left more than 9,500 students without access to education. Since the anti-government protests of 2018, the expropriation is the latest act of harassment and repression suffered by the Church, which has also affected other Catholic institutions and political dissidents. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255155/nicaragua-dictatorship-renames-