The Roman Catholic Bishop of Sacramento remains in active Chapter 11 mediation more than two years after filing, with the debtor and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors negotiating the Catholic family's contribution to a global survivor settlement while a July 15, 2026 plan-filing deadline runs.
The diocese—a corporation sole serving roughly 300,000 Catholics across 102 parishes and 42 schools in Northern California—filed for Chapter 11 on April 1, 2024, in the Eastern District of California before Judge Christopher M. Klein Voluntary PetitionDkt. 1. The petition followed California's 2019 AB 218 revival legislation, which opened a three-year limitations window that produced approximately 300 clergy-sexual-abuse lawsuits against the diocese, layered on more than $51 million the diocese had already paid in settlements since 2000 after a November 2023 global mediation failed Declaration of Stephen J. Greene, Jr.Dkt. 13. Early case activity centered on first-day operational relief plus authority to keep paying for abuse-survivor assistance and safe-environment programs First-Day MotionDkt. 39.
Per the most recent status report, the case is tracking toward a mediated, trust-funded plan rather than a conventional capital-structure restructuring Status ReportDkt. 2233. The debtor has reached agreements in principle with four insurance carriers—Interstate Fire & Casualty, National Surety, Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, and Hartford—to fund a survivor trust under a future plan, with those insurers moving to stay their appeals of the Court's July 25, 2025 stay-modification order as part of the settlement. The debtor is concurrently monetizing real property, with three pending sale motions representing approximately $37.6 million in potential proceeds, including the recently executed Vacaville purchase-and-sale agreement .
Near-term milestones include the July 15, 2026 plan-filing deadline and a California Court of Appeal oral argument on July 8, 2026, on whether Proposition 51's comparative-fault framework applies to pre-1986 abuse claims, with a ruling expected by October 2026 that could materially shape survivor recoveries. A section 363 sale hearing is set for June 30, 2026, and the next round of professional fee applications—including the Fee Examiner's eighth interim request—is scheduled for July 29, 2026 Fee Examiner ApplicationDkt. 2227.
