Portland Archdiocese using canon law for calculating assets, $450M shortfall

As the Portland Archdiocese tries to weasel its way out of its responsibilities by declaring financial bankruptcy, even the parishioners are confused. No wonder, because the church is telling everyone that they only have $50m in assets, that number is based on canon law. This means that church is saying the assets of the local parishes do not belong to the archdiocese of Portland. As this is taking place in the US, legal precedent says that canon law does not apply and instead, secular law applies. So what's the difference? According to secular law the assets would include all of the parishes, including property, with a value estimated at closer to half-billion dollars. And to think that the church suggests that the victims are the greedy ones. Some values.