The Boston Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church owes a lot of money to the victims of priests in the region who sexually abused children - and they promised to start paying soon. Unfortunately, they don't have the money ready so they are going to have to mortgage the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in order to begin payments:

News.com reports:

The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and St John's Seminary were mortgaged to secure bank loans so the archdiocese can get the settlement money this month, said the Rev Christopher Coyne, a spokesman for the archdiocese. ... In a letter to priests this weekend, a copy of which was obtained by The Boston Globe, Bishop Richard Lennon said the initial $US85 million ($115.14 million) settlement to victims of priest sex abuse had increased because the archdiocese agreed to pay some victims who had filed individual claims. ... Coyne told the Globe that the mortgaged properties are not at risk. "Both the cathedral and the seminary are important to the life of the archdiocese, and we would never imperil either institution," Coyne said.

I wonder how he can say that they are not "at risk"? Any mortgage is a risk - unless the lender has the option of foreclosing in the event of non-payment, then it's not really a mortgage. Granted, the chances might be very small, but that only means that the risk is very small - not that it is non-existent.

I personally wonder what would happen if there were a foreclosure and sale. If you had the money, would you buy a cathedral? If you did, what would you do with it?

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