The diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, just hours before it would have faced the first in a long series of lawsuits over clergy sexual abuse.

Alleged victims had filed 131 cases against the diocese. The bankruptcy means that all those cases will be put on hold, and the diocese hopes that it will help them reach an orderly settlement that it can afford.

Thomas S Neuberger, a lawyer representing many of the victims, called the filing “the diocese’s last, desperate effort to hide the truth from the public”.

Bishop W Francis Malooly said in a statement that the filing “is in no way intended to dodge responsibility for past criminal misconduct by clergy – or for mistakes made by diocesan authorities. Nor does the bankruptcy process enable the diocese to avoid or minimise its responsibility to victims of abuse.”

In court papers, the diocese estimated its assets at US$50 million to $100 million and its debts at US$100 million to $500 million. Wilmington is the seventh American diocese bankrupted by the abuse scandal, following Portland, San Diego, Tucson, Spokane, Davenport and Fairbanks.

The US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the Diocese of Bridgeport, paving the way for state courts to force the release of thousands of documents the diocese had fought to keep sealed. The documents include details of how the diocese knowingly returned abusive priests to ministry.