Facing Nearly 100 Sexual-Abuse Lawsuits, Franciscan Friars of California Declare Bankruptcy

Santa Barbara Attorney Says Survivors Will Now ‘Almost Certainly Never Tell Their Story Under Oath’

A number of Franciscan priests assigned to Santa Barbara’s now-closed St. Anthony’s Seminary (above) and Old Mission Santa Barbara have been implicated in the sexual abuse of children over the years. | Credit: Eugene Zelenko

Facing an onslaught of 94 sexual-abuse lawsuits — most involving older allegations filed within the past two years — the Franciscan Friars of California opted to cut their losses and declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

For all day-to-day charitable, educational, and religious functions, the religious order — whose friars the Old Mission of Santa Barbara houses — will continue operations. But for any reckoning with the more recent sexual abuse victims, it changes everything. It will be up to a bankruptcy judge — in this case William Lafferty of Oakland — to determine which plaintiffs are entitled to what size of settlement.

“After consulting with our legal and financial counsel, we have concluded that litigation costs and potential liability would exceed our limited financial capacity,” declared David Gaa, provincial minister for the Franciscan Friars. “Bankruptcy is the only viable path to ensuring just, equitable, and compassionate compensation for all abuse survivors.”

That’s because, he said, bankruptcy is a much faster process than civil litigation and those whose cases are heard sooner won’t drain the coffers of those whose claims come later. In a press release issued on Gaa’s behalf, Gaa noted that the 94 cases were admitted only after the state legislature recently agreed to lift the statute of limitations on old complaints for two years. All the claims arising from that are based on allegations that took place 27 years ago, with several claims dating back to the 1940s. Most of the friars named have died, and of the six still alive, all have been removed from public ministry and living under “strict third-party supervision.”

Tim Hale, an attorney who represents nine of the 94 clients filing sexual abuse complaints against the Franciscans, had a decidedly different take. “It means my clients will almost certainly never tell their story under oath in a deposition or trial,” he stated. “And it means I will never get to ask Franciscans like the Provincial Minister to explain how it is that Fr. Joseph Prochnow, who abused one of my clients in the 1960s, has within the very last few years been observed in public ministry with access to children.”

In legal documents, Hale alleged Prochnow had been seen in proximity of such public ministry as recently as May 2019. That particular client, Hale said, had been abused both by Prochnow in Oakland and later by the late Father Mario Cimmarrusti — the self-appointed medical watchdog and disciplinarian for seminary students at St. Anthony’s in Santa Barbara.

In its bankruptcy filing — dated December 31, 2023 — the Franciscan Friars estimated they had $10 million worth of assets and were looking at litigation costs in the ballpark of $50 million.

No response was available by press time from the Franciscans to Hale’s assertions regarding Prochnow. But the order’s press statement stressed how the Franciscans were the first to confront its history of sexual abuse, not just by settling with victims but by publishing a disclosure list of credibly accused friars and by providing compassionate assistance to abuse survivors.

Correction: The story was updated to clarify that the Old Mission of Santa Barbara houses Franciscan Friars but is a separate entity from the Oakland-based organization.