At issue is who owns property that could be used to settle claims by sex-abuse victims

Worried about issues ranging from personal liability to justice for victims, nearly 30 Southern Oregon residents are among 280 Roman Catholic parishioners who’ve demanded to be excluded from a class-action lawsuit involving the Archdiocese of Portland.

"The reason we were doing it is to stand behind the victims," said John Cole, 42, of Ashland. "We wanted to say, ‘We’ve got your back.’ "

Cole, his wife and 26 others filed paperwork by Oct. 3 to remove themselves from the suit, indicated Doug Pahl, a Portland lawyer for the defendants.

They are a fraction of the nearly 400,000 Western Oregon parishioners named in the suit that will determine ownership of parish churches, schools and other property within the statewide archdiocese.

Most current and former Catholics chose not to contest their status as defendants in the lawsuit; the archdiocese argues that an estimated $500 million to $600 million in church property belongs to the parishes themselves, not to the church headquarters.

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The question is at the heart of bankruptcy proceedings that must determine what resources are available to settle lawsuits filed by 235 men and women who claim they were sexually abused by priests.

If the parishes are determined to own their local resources, the property — including about $7 million in Jackson County — would be off limits to sex abuse victims seeking $400 million in damages.

If the archdiocese is found to be the true owner, the parish property can be used to pay the claims. Archdiocese officials argue that only about $19 million is actually available for victims.

Southern Oregon residents from Ashland and Medford to Eagle Point and Grants Pass filed the paperwork, a public record, to exclude themselves from the suit.

"Count me out of your class act (or whatever)," Charlotte Pullen of Shady Cove wrote in her statement.

Some residents acted out of fear of liability.

"I just thought maybe I would be responsible personally, you know," said Arlene Rosecrans, 77, of Central Point. "I had just come back to the Catholic church. I thought I should opt out."

John and Mary Ellen Cole, however, asked to be removed from the suit for philosophical reasons.

"I firmly believe that the church is the people, not bricks and mortar," John Cole wrote to lawyers representing the defendants.

"I firmly believe that if we need to sell church property to pay the victims of the hideous sexual abuse by priests against children in their care, we should do so."

Cole emphasized that he continues to believe in his local parish, Our Lady of the Mountain

Others argued that the church should take responsibility for the actions of its priests.

"What’s the big deal? They did it, they should pay for it," said Roseann Henderson, 84, of Grants Pass. "What they should have done was to get rid of the priests instead of sending them from church to church."

At the same time, Henderson said she’d hate to see the assets of St. Anne’s, the Catholic church she attends, decimated.

"I think the property belongs to wherever it’s located," she said. "It would be nice if the headquarters would pay these bills."

Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail jaleccia@mailtribune.com.