Tag Archives: organized crime

The New York Daily News reports: The 93-year-old ex-pope has an authorized biography out in Germany this week, which ends with an interview between Benedict and the journalist Peter Seewald. In the exchange, Benedict sharply attacked gay marriage, abortion and scientific methods of conception. “Modern society is in the middle of formulating an anti-Christian creed,” he said. “The fear of …

From the Archdiocese of New Orleans: In order to continue effectively ministering to the needs of the church community and victims and survivors of clergy abuse, the Administrative Offices of the Archdiocese of New Orleans announced today that it has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization under the U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Code. The move was necessitated by the growing financial strain …

Law & Crime reports: President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and the Trump Organization just suffered a major defeat in federal court–losing a battle to have a years-old so-called “racketeering enterprising” lawsuit against them decided via secret arbitration. Those claims are now all but certain to be litigated publicly. The class action plaintiffs originally filed suit …

Reuters reports: Australia’s highest court acquitted former Vatican treasurer George Pell on Tuesday of sexually assaulting two teenaged choirboys in the 1990s, freeing the 78-year-old cardinal after 404 days in jail. The High Court ordered Pell’s convictions be quashed and verdicts of acquittal be entered in their place, ending the most high profile case of alleged historical sex abuse to …

The New York Times reports: All over the country, businesses large and small are seeking breathing room from their lenders, landlords and business partners as they face the financial fallout from the coronavirus crisis. President Trump’s family company is among those looking for help. With some of its golf courses and hotels closed amid the economic lockdown, the Trump Organization …

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis on Friday accepted the resignation of a French cardinal who was convicted and then acquitted of covering up for a pedophile priest in a case that fueled a reckoning over clergy sexual abuse in France. Lyon Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, 69, had offered to resign when the Lyon court in March 2019 first convicted him …

The Buffalo News reports: The Buffalo Diocese, awash with lawsuits alleging child sex abuse by priests, nuns and others, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday, marking another chapter in a scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in Western New York since early 2018. The Buffalo Diocese already is named as a defendant in 260 cases, more than …

Via press release from hate group leader Bill Donohue: There is a reason the Diocese of Harrisburg filed for bankruptcy the day after the Boy Scouts of America did: both have been targeted by lawyers who have a profound hatred of institutions that promote traditional moral values. It is incontestable that no religious organization is known for doing this more …

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: The Diocese of Harrisburg filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, becoming the first of Pennsylvania’s eight Roman Catholic dioceses to seek protection from financial claims in the aftermath of a scathing 2018 grand jury report that revealed decades of sexual abuse and cover-up by the church’s top leaders. In its petition with the bankruptcy court, the diocese reported …

The Associated Press reports: The cardinal’s response was not what Yolanda Martínez had expected — or could abide. Her son had been sexually abused by a priest of the Legion of Christ, a disgraced religious order. And now she was calling Cardinal Valasio De Paolis — the Vatican official appointed by the pope to lead the Legion and to clean …

The New York Times reports: President Trump and his aides wasted little time opening a campaign of retribution against those he blames for his impeachment, firing on Friday two of the most prominent witnesses in the inquiry against him barely 48 hours after the Senate acquitted the president. Emboldened by his victory and determined to strike back, Mr. Trump fired …

Catholic news site The Tablet reports: Fr Roger Matassoli, 91, was found dead on 4 November at his home near Beauvais, choked by a crucifix stuffed down his throat. There were also multiple blows to his body. A 19-year-old suspect named Alexandre was soon arrested but has been held in hospital because he appeared delirious. A month later, the suspect’s …

The Washington Post reports: Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick gave hundreds of thousands of dollars in church money to powerful Catholic clerics over nearly two decades, according to financial records obtained by The Washington Post, while the Vatican failed to act on claims he had sexually harassed young men. Starting in 2001, McCarrick sent checks totaling more than $600,000 to clerics …

The Associated Press reports: Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic dioceses have paid nearly $84 million to 564 victims of sexual abuse, a tally that’s sure to grow substantially in the new year as compensation fund administrators work through a backlog of claims, according to an Associated Press review. To date, the average payout across all seven dioceses has exceeded $148,000 — a …

The Associated Press reports: At the end of another long day trying to sign up new clients accusing the Roman Catholic Church of sexual abuse, lawyer Adam Slater gazes out the window of his high-rise Manhattan office at one of the great symbols of the church, St. Patrick’s Cathedral. “I wonder how much that’s worth?” he muses. Across the country, …

The Guardian reports: Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, has said he is confident the president will remain loyal to him as an impeachment inquiry unfolds in which the former New York mayor has become a central figure. But Giuliani joked that he had good “insurance” in case Trump did turn on him, amid speculation Republicans will seek to frame …

CBS News reports: A Roman Catholic bishop named by Pope Francis to investigate the church’s response to clergy sexual abuse in Buffalo, New York, has himself been accused of sexual abuse of a child, an attorney for the alleged victim notified the church this week. The attorney informed Catholic officials in New Jersey that he is preparing a lawsuit on …

Mediaite reports: Donald Trump Jr., in his new book, compared the plight of the Trump family to that of soldiers buried at Arlington National Cemetery. In an excerpt from his just-released “Triggered”, Trump Jr. described how he felt visiting Arlington on the day before President Donald Trump’s inauguration. “I rarely get emotional, if ever,” he wrote. “I guess you’d call …

Time Magazine reports: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester was the first in New York to seek bankruptcy protection under the weight of new sexual misconduct lawsuits, but lawyers and church leaders say it may not be the last. All eight of the state’s Roman Catholic dioceses face financial pressures as a result of the state’s new Child Victims Act, …

Just in from hate group leader Bill Donohue: The Trump administration has released a proposal that would strengthen the religious rights of federal contractors. Current law exempts religious non-profit organizations from federal laws on discrimination. The proposed rule would expand the religious exemption to any company where the owners claim that their sincerely held religious beliefs would be compromised if …