SPOKANE -- Five thousand people are expected to attend bishop Blase Cupich's installment as the sixth bishop of the roman catholic diocese of Spokane on Friday.

Cupich takes over the financially battered diocese from retiring Bishop William Skylstad.

One of the first things you need to know about Spokane's new bishop is how to pronounce his last name. The bishop says it's like to words: "soup" and "itch." It's Croatian.

Cupich arrived in town a week ago and says his first priority will be to get to know people here, and to help people get to know him.

Bishop Cupich's new office is filled with moving boxes. He says unpacking will have to wait he has more pressing issues at hand.

On Friday, he'll take over a diocese that was forced to sell most of it's assets, including the building where is office sits, to pay a $48 million bankruptcy settlement with victims of priest sex abuse.

Cupich said he'd read about the Spokane diocese's problems, but was given no special directions to handle it

"But no, I didn't receive any portfolio or set of instructions for the most part. The holy sea recognizes each diocese has it's own needs and character and they're going to appoint somebody that they believe that can do the job," Bishop Cupich said.

Cupich has a tough job ahead of him. New claims of abuse from decades ago continue to be filed, draining a special $1 million fund. If more money is needed to replenish the fund, local churches could be sold to pay victims.

"That won't be our decision. If we can't come up with the money, there is the possibility the people who are in charge of future claims have ability to foreclose a parish and that is something that can be totally out of our hands. And I can't say for sure how that's going to be worked out," Bishop Cupich says. "My hope is that we can avoid that but there's no way I can make a promise because I don't have the power to make that decision."

Cupich says he and his advisors will look at different options for raising more money if necessary. He says he'll be very candid about what is happening.

"A friend of mine who is a bishop in another diocese says all he wants on his tombstone is 'I tried to treat you like adults.' I think that's the spirit I come here with," said Bishop Cupich.

He added that he wants people to know the diocese is more than the current problems it's facing.

"We're going to place our trust in God's hands and move ahead as best we can," Cupich says.

Cupich will be installed as the new bishop at 11 a.m. on Friday at the McCarthy Athletic Center at Gonzaga University. About 5,000 people are expected to attend, including his eight brothers and sisters and his 86-year-old mother.