PORTLAND - The first Roman Catholic archdiocese in the nation to file for bankruptcy has asked a federal judge for a Dec. 31 deadline for priest sex abuse victims to come forward in Oregon.

The Archdiocese of Portland needs to have a firm estimate of the number of potential lawsuits in order to help settle creditor claims after filing July 6 for Chapter 11 protection under federal bankruptcy law.

At least 60 alleged victims have pending claims against the archdiocese with another 20 expected to be filed.

But David Slader, an attorney for 17 of those victims, said the deadline is unrealistic.

"It's understandable that the archdiocese wants to know the full extent of its liability but that is impossible when you're talking about crimes by clergy against children," Slader said.

"The problem is that the men and women who have been abused by their priests live in a world of shame - and that shame imposes a cloak of silence over them," he said.

Bill Crane, director of the Oregon chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, also criticized the deadline.

"It pressures the victims," Crane said.

To file a claim, an alleged victim must provide information about when the incident occurred, the nature of the abuse and the injuries sustained.

A draft notice of the deadline also was submitted with a motion filed Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Portland.

The archdiocese would run the notice in an advertisement no smaller than one-eighth of a page in 17 West Coast newspapers once a week for four consecutive weeks. The ad will also appear in church bulletins and in three consecutive issues of the Catholic Sentinel and four other church publications.

The proposed notice reads: "If you were abused or suffered any injury by a priest or other person working in ministry for the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon or for a Catholic parish/school of the Archdiocese, you must act now to preserve your rights."

Bud Bunce, archdiocese spokesman, emphasized the draft notice is "still a working document."

Bunce said the archdiocese is willing to consider suggestions such as where to place the ad and changes in the wording.

But he said he could not comment on whether the archdiocese would be willing to extend the deadline.

"What we're hoping for is that anyone who has, or believes they have, a claim against the archdiocese, that they will come forward so that we know we have all of those tort claims represented - so that we can handle them," Bunce said.