The Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection will allow the diocese to continue functioning while protecting people who were sexually abused by priests in the past, Skylstad said.

"In the end, Chapter 11 gives everyone a sense of finality and closure with fairness, justice and equity," Skylstad said in a news conference. "Valid claims will be settled. The diocese will continue its ministry."

Skylstad, who is scheduled to assume the presidency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Monday, said filing for bankruptcy will suspend litigation and its costs on 28 sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the diocese.

He said sorting out the claims in bankruptcy court will protect "those harmed by losing the race to the courthouse."

He said about half of the 125 people who could file sex abuse lawsuits have hired lawyers.

The Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., and the Diocese of Tucson have already filed for bankruptcy protection. The Portland diocese filed in July, the same week a lawsuit was scheduled for trial. The Tucson diocese filed in September, saying it needed court protection because of legal costs from the cases.

Last week, the Spokane diocese announced that talks to settle 28 sexual abuse claims had failed. The talks involved five lawsuits involving sexual abuse by former priest Patrick O'Donnell, who has admitted to sexually abusing boys from the time he was in seminary.

Skylstad has said settlement talks failed because insurance companies were not willing to pay the demands of the victims, which totaled millions of dollars. Lawyers for the victims also sought additional millions from the diocese, which Skylstad said it could not pay.

In a recent letter to parishioners, Skylstad said the total amount of claims "is in the tens of millions of dollars and far exceeds the net worth of the diocese."

O'Donnell, 62, served as a priest for the Spokane diocese until he was removed from ministry in 1986.

The first of the five lawsuits alleging that the diocese didn't do enough to protect children from O'Donnell is scheduled for trial Nov. 29.

In September 2003, the Spokane diocese reached a $50,000 settlement with one victim abused 25 to 30 years ago by priest James O'Malley, who now lives in Ireland.

In 2002-2003, the diocese spent about $625,000 to resolve victims' claims, according to the diocese's finance report published earlier this year. Of that, $346,068 went to legal fees. More than $279,000 went to communications and victims' counseling and assistance.

The diocese now faces 19 lawsuits involving 58 plaintiffs who have accused nine diocesan priests and two Jesuits. Three of the 11 are dead.

The diocese has received reports involving 125 people. More than half were allegedly abused by O'Donnell and O'Malley, dating back more than 30 years.

In a statement of damages filed earlier this year, three brothers who sued the diocese for "years of abuse, sodomy and rape" at the hands of O'Donnell sought a total of $13.5 million to $18 million in compensation. Twenty-three other victims asked for a combined total of $40 million.

Bankruptcy would not close down parishes and schools. Skylstad has said one of the goals of a Chapter 11 filing would be to protect the assets of the more than 80 parishes in the diocese, which covers the eastern third of the state.