Portland Archdiocese
files for bankruptcy
In the wake of costly
sex-abuse lawsuits, the
church rallies its family'
in trying times
WILLIAM MCCALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
PORTLAND — Portland Archbish
op John Vlazny urged Roman
Catholics to rally around the church,
one day after the Portland Archdio
cese became the first in the nation to
file for bankruptcy because of the
mounting costs of sex abuse lawsuits.
In a brief sermon during morning
Mass Wednesday, Vlazny did not re
fer directly to his decision to seek
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
for the Archdiocese of Portland, an
nounced Tuesday.
The archbishop said the purpose
of the church was to follow the
teachings of Christ, including the
need to take responsibility for sin in
order for it to be forgiven.
After the betrayal of Christ, "I imag
ine heads had to bow when the name
Judas Iscariot was said," Vlazny told a
small group of mostly elderly parish
ioners scattered among the front rows
of the Cathedral of The Immaculate
Conception, referring to the disciple
whom the Bible says betrayed Christ.
"Undoubtedly many heads are
bowing in embarrassment and
shame today," he said, "when we still
have traces of that original sin in our
church."
Vlazny called the church a family
that often suffers together while it
seeks to help others.
"Sometimes we are ashamed and
need to do penance because of
problems in our family," the arch
bishop said. "But we cannot stay
mired in that frustration and that
sense of failure."
Josie Meskill, a longtime parish
ioner who immigrated from Ireland
in 1947, said many of her fellow
parishioners were concerned about
the sex abuse lawsuits and the
bankruptcy, but they try to put it
in perspective.
Meskill said the Roman Catholic
church has survived war, schism, per
secution and upheaval "so this is not
the end of the world."
"Like the archbishop said today, we
are a family, and we stand by each
other," Meskill said.
Another longtime parishioner who
identified himself only by his first
name, Thomas, said he was a retired
accountant who had seen plenty of
companies facing financial problems
during his career.
The church was forced to make a
business decision to seek protection
for assets that can be used to help the
poor and needy, he said.
He also questioned whether some
the victims and their attorneys were
asking too much, referring to one vic
tim seeking $ 130 million in damages
for alleged abuse.
"Come on," Thomas said. "There is
such a thing as common sense."
Initiative petitions still subject
to 'sign-and-date' regulation
An injunction request that
claims signatures were
'unfairly disqualified' was
turned down Wednesday
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND — State elections offi
cials can continue rejecting initiative
petitions that are improperly dated or
signed, a II.S. District Court judge
ruled Wednesday.
ludge Owen Panner turned down an
injunction request by a coalition of po
litical activists, who argue that voter sig
natures are being unfairly disqualified
due to tiny errors like "a slip of the pen."
A state requirement dating to 2002
mandates that petition circulators must
sign and date every signature sheet they
turn in. State elections officials do not
count petition sheets with mistakes
such as crossed-out and rewritten dates.
Organizers of initiatives on same
sex marriage, medical marijuana,
forests and other issues say that rule
violates the First Amendment, and
could deprive voters of their rights to
weigh in on initiatives.
But assistant attorney general
David Leith, who represented Secre
tary of State Bill Bradbury at Wednes
day's hearing, said that the sign-and
date requirement is meant to guard
against fraud and forgery.
"The problem is trying to distin
guish between which one (error) was
a slip of the pen and which one was a
fraudulent attempt to turn in an in
valid petition," Leith said.
Portland attorney Dan Meek said
plaintiffs hope to learn on July 21
whether the "hundreds of signatures"
Best Sunday
K
thrown out under the state regulation
will be declared valid.
Judge Panner could issue one of
three rulings. He may mandate that
the rule remain in place, or he could
require secretary of state to accept the
rejected petitions. He might also ask
circulators to submit affidavits verify
ing that the signatures and dates are
correct. That could be difficult be
cause many petition circulators are
out of town, the lawyer said.
Initiative organizers worry that the
state elections rule could hurt smaller
grassroots efforts by tossing out even
a few signatures.
"Obviously all the initiatives with
millions of dollars can afford to col
lect twice as many signatures. But our
campaign has been close to the
bone, " said John Sajo, chief petitioner
for the medical marijuana initiative.
'Express lane' allows
business passengers
speedy airport checks
The automated screening
process is aimed at easing
airport congestion
BRIAN BAKST
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
MINNEAPOLIS — Select airline
passengers breezed through securi
ty Wednesday at the Minneapolis
St. Paul International Airport in the
start of an experiment to ease de
lays and make flying a little more
agreeable.
Under the program, frequent
business fliers will not be subject to
random searches if they pass back
ground checks in advance and do
not set off any alarms while moving
through security.
Minneapolis-St. Paul is the first of
five U.S. airports to take part in the
program, which could be made per
manent. Airports in Boston, Los An
geles, Houston and Washington are
scheduled to adopt the practice over
the next two months.
By midmorning, about 50 North
west Airlines passengers used the
special express lane that the Trans
portation Security Administration
hopes will reduce wait times for fre
quent fliers while allowing screeners
to focus their attention elsewhere.
"If we can ease the congestion at
the busy checkpoints just a little bit,
that's a good reason to have the reg
istered traveler program," said Carol
DiBattiste, chief of staff for theTSA.
Over the past two weeks, about
2,400 frequent business travelers
have signed up, providing scans of
irises and fingerprints and exten
sive personal information. That in
formation was cross-checked
against several criminal and terror
related databases.
DiBattiste said the overwhelm
ing majority of those who applied
were admitted into the program.
She would not comment on those
who failed.
On Wednesday, some of those
registered travelers were moving
through the lone express lane at the
airport's six security checkpoints. It
took about a minute for registered
travelers to get through security and
about five minutes for everyone else.
The registered travelers presented
their boarding passes to an agent
who asked them to put their left in
dex finger on a scanner. After about
three seconds, a computer screen
read: "Success. You may proceed."
The registered travelers still had
to go through a metal detector and
their carry-on bags had to
go through an X-ray machine.
However, they were not subject to
random searches once they passed
that point.
Twin Cities businessman Bert
Harman said he had written two let
ters to Congress asking for some
thing like the program, and he was
happy when he got it. There was no
line when he went through security.
"It was simple so far, hopefully it
stays that way," he said.
Gary Fishman, senior vice presi
dent for Northwest, said he hopes
the program will encourage busi
ness travelers to fly rather than drive.
Airlines lost many customers after
Sept. 11 and the security restrictions
that followed.
Justin Oberman, aTSA official in
charge of the program, said the sys
tem has adequate safeguards.
"If you are able to beat the back
ground check, you still have to go
through security," he said. "You're
going to have to get through the
metal detector."
Brian Bakst is a writer for the
Associated Press.
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