Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto and school donors are suing the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary to stop the sisters who closed the Loretto High School this month from using donations to fund their retirement. Bishop Soto and seven other financial contributors say in the Superior Court lawsuit that the money they donated to the all-girls campus was designated for the education of local Catholic students and must stay in Sacramento, the Sacramento Bee reports.
They allege that the nuns from the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary want to use these contributions to pay for the nuns' retirement at their motherhouse in Wheaton, Ill.
"We want to make sure funds given in good faith go to support schools in Sacramento," said Kevin Eckery, diocesan spokesman. "It shouldn't be a bait-and-switch."
The suit asks the court to hold the proceeds of the sale of the school and assign an arbitrator to determine how to allocate the money.
Loretto school officials surprised students, church leaders and donors in January when they announced that declining enrollment would force them to close one of Sacramento's premier Catholic high schools at the end of the school year.
Representatives for the religious order said that the nuns intend to pay off outstanding debts related to Loretto High and use the rest of the money to provide for retired members of the order in Illinois, according to the suit.
"That is not what this money was given for," said Eckery.
He said church leaders tried repeatedly to negotiate with the nuns through letters and attempts at meetings. The diocese has donated approximately $1.5 million in cash, loan forgiveness and scholarship fund contributions "for the express purpose of educating women of high school age in the Sacramento region," according to the suit.
Eckery said the bishop joined the suit because he believed he had a canonical duty to people in the diocese.
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