Alleged victims of sexual abuse at the hands of US Catholic priests expressed outrage yesterday after a diocese in Delaware filed for bankruptcy on the eve of a trial, delaying the claims of more than 140 people.

The bankruptcy filing by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington delayed the civil trial that had been due to begin yesterday, the first of eight abuse hearings scheduled in the state.

Thomas Neuberger, a lawyer representing 88 alleged victims, described the bankruptcy filing as a “desperate effort to hide the truth from the public and conceal thousands of pages of scandalous documents” from being aired in court.

“This filing is the latest, sad chapter in the diocese’s decades-long cover-up of these despicable crimes to maintain the secrecy surrounding its responsibility and complicity in the sexual abuse of hundreds of Catholic children,” he said.

Mr Neuberger said that the diocese’s action may mean that some sick and elderly victims could die before getting their day in court. The Diocese of Wilmington is the seventh in the US to seek bankruptcy protection since a nationwide priest abuse scandal erupted seven years ago.

It has paid more than $6.2 million (£3.7 million) since 2002 to settle sexual abuse lawsuits. Like others around the country, Wilmington has also paid settlements to alleged victims who did not file lawsuits. The largest payout in America was by the Los Angeles Archdiocese, which settled 508 cases with $660 million in 2007.

Mr Neuberger said that he would make court filings in Delaware to “meet this fraudulent tactic with the full force of law”. More than 20 Delaware plaintiffs have filed lawsuits against Francis DeLuca, a former priest. He served for 35 years and was defrocked last year after being jailed in 2007 in New York for molesting his grand-nephew.

The Right Rev Francis Malooly, Bishop of the Wilmington Diocese, said that the bankruptcy filing was a “painful decision” but “will enable us to fairly compensate all victims through a single process established by the bankruptcy court”. The bankruptcy filing lists the diocese’s assets of between $50 million and $100 million but said that its estimated debt was between $100 million and $500 million.

Bishop Malooly said that three years ago, his predecessor released the names of 18 priests who had admitted or otherwise substantiated allegations of the abuse of minors.

Barbara Blaine, the head of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said that the filing was a ploy to hide the truth.

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