Bishop of California diocese warns funds are low in wake of bankruptcy filing

• The Diocese of Santa Rosa, California, is reportedly running low on funds after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to 260 clergy sex abuse claims.

• Court documents show it spends about $345,000 per month on the bankruptcy proceedings and may fall below its $3 million reserve by year’s end.

• To raise money, the diocese is selling two historic churches for $725,000. However, survivors are questioning the transparency of the diocese’s financial disclosures.

• Survivors allege fraudulent fund transfers to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops before bankruptcy; Bishop Vasa says the transfers were routine charitable donations.

The bishop of Santa Rosa, California, has warned that the diocese is running out of money in the wake of 260 claims of clergy sex abuse that prompted the diocese to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy two years ago.

Mercury News reported that an April 2025 court document says the diocese has been spending around $345,000 per month on administrative expenses in the bankruptcy proceedings. The diocese’s legal counsel expects its funds to dip below $3 million by the end of the year, which the diocese reportedly called its “minimum operating reserve.”

In an attempt to boost its funds, the diocese is selling two historic churches for a combined total of $725,000. According to Mercury News, Bishop Robert Vasa says the diocese hopes to reach a settlement with the survivors and pay the restitution money as soon as possible. However, clergy abuse survivors are skeptical that the diocese’s funds are that limited and have expressed concerns that the diocese is being deceptive about its true financial state. 

Mercury News reported that the diocese said in 2023 that its real estate holdings — three buildings, used for Sonoma State University’s Newman Center, the chancery office, and the bishop’s residence — are valued at $1.8 million. The diocese did not include individual churches in that estimation because the parishes hold property titles, not the diocese.

Bishop Vasa said in 2022 that allowing individual parishes to hold property only follows canon law and is not an attempt to protect assets from survivors.

Survivors have also claimed that the diocese made “fraudulent” transfers to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) between 2019 and 2022, saying that the diocese could see bankruptcy coming and wanted to move its funds to a third party. Bishop Vasa said that the transfers were from a charitable collection that parishes undertake each year, saying that transferring money to the USCCB for their charities “has been the practice for decades.”