Cardinal Dolan Transferred $57 Million to a Cemetery Fund to Shield It From Sexual Abuse Victims

The way guilty people behave

ReligionJuly 2013 • Views: 42,814

According to documents released today, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, moved nearly $57 million into a cemetery trust fund in 2007 specifically to shield it from lawsuits by victims of clergy sexual abuse. The New York Times has the scoop:

[T]he files released Monday contain a letter [Dolan] wrote to the Vatican in 2007, in which he explained that by transferring the assets, “I foresee an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability.”

The Vatican moved swiftly to approve the request, the files show, even though it often took years to remove known abusers from the priesthood.

The files also reveal graphic details of the alleged abuse, including new revelations about its magnitude:

Archbishop Listecki released a letter last week warning Catholics in his archdiocese that the documents could shake their faith and trying to explain the actions of church leaders while offering apologies to victims.

“Prepare to be shocked,” he wrote. “There are some graphic descriptions about the behavior of some of these priest offenders.”

More: Cardinal Dolan Transferred $57 Million to a Cemetery Fund to Shield It From Sexual Abuse Victims.

Jump to bottom

34 comments

Single-handed sailor Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:28:09pm

There better be some pretty fucking sweet lawns at the cemetery from now on.

Kragar Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:28:55pm

Step one to rebuilding the Church, expel people like Dolan.

It wont happen, and the Church is corrupt as hell.

Targetpractice Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:29:31pm

I’ll get a few dirty look for saying this, but this is the kind of shit that the RICO Act was passed to address.

A Mom Anon Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:29:41pm

There should be a fucking parade of these assholes marching into prison. Why in the FUCK is that not happening?

And with that, my battery is about dead. But damn, this is some bullshit.

austin_blue Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:29:46pm

Oh, Cardinal Timmy Timmy Tim Tim Tim…no Canonization for you!

Now, the Polish Gentleman who was in charge when all of this started coming out…

Charles Johnson Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:30:21pm

It’s a criminal conspiracy to protect the worst kind of human monsters, because they’re bringing in the donations.

Decatur Deb Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:31:36pm

Stewardship : A+
Pastoral Care: F

Vicious Babushka Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:33:11pm

ICYMI:

My son interviewed by NBC about sexual abuse in the Hasidic community.

(This is a do-over of a previous NBC segment where they totally O’Keefed him)

engineer cat Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:33:48pm

priest offenders

sounds almost like a title

Kragar Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:36:34pm

Gay marriage and abortion are abominations against God.

Protecting Church money and covering up multiple cases of child molestation are blessed acts.

They have no moral standing what so ever.

austin_blue Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:37:25pm

re: #9 engineer cat

priest offenders

sounds almost like a title

No, it sounds like pussyfutting around the fact that priests were fucking little kids and the Vatican did its damnedest (intended) to hide that simple fact.

Blue Point Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:37:49pm

[T]he files released Monday contain a letter [Dolan] wrote to the Vatican in 2007, in which he explained that by transferring the assets, “I foresee an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability.”
Timmy? Why?

Kragar Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:39:54pm

When the Mafia has a better track record than you on how to deal with child molesters, you have a serious problem.

austin_blue Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:46:05pm

re: #13 Kragar

When the Mafia has a better track record than you on how to deal with child molesters, you have a serious problem.

Hard to imagine a Vatican hit squad using suppressed .22s to remove the offenders.

Now the *victims* on the other hand….

Oh, and to be clear, I’m a retired Catholic.

Kragar Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:47:37pm

re: #14 austin_blue

Hard to imagine a Vatican hit squad using suppressed .22s to remove the offenders.

Now the *victims* on the other hand….

Not covering up decades of abuse would have been a good start.

Decatur Deb Tue, Jul 2, 2013 6:55:10pm

And the current archbishop is still bullshitting. Here’s the cop-out quote from his pastoral letter:

“But, we know that bad things happened to innocent children and youth. The arc of understanding sexual abuse of a minor progressed from being seen as a moral failing and sin that needed personal resolve and spiritual direction; to a psychological deficiency that required therapy and could be cured; to issues of addiction requiring more extensive therapy and restrictions on ministry; to recognition of the long-term effects of abuse and the need to hold the perpetrator accountable for this criminal activity.”

There was never a time, not even 40 or 50 years ago, when that was not seen as a particularly heinous crime. Don’t look for improvement from his administration.

dragonath Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:05:23pm

This clown delivered the benedictions at the RNC and DNC last year, too.

Targetpractice Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:13:27pm

Note to self, if you’re going to turn A/C off because you’re too cold after getting soaked by rain, remember to turn it on once you’ve finally gotten into some dry clothes.

blueraven Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:13:43pm

This latest bombshell arrives after a tough week for Dolan: On Wednesday, he issued a joint press release calling the Supreme Court’s DOMA ruling a “tragic day for marriage and our nation” that went against “the common good of all, especially our children.

Oh, so now he cares about the children?

thedopefishlives Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:14:24pm

Evening Lizardim.

Dancing along the light of day Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:15:33pm

IF there is a god, these monsters will rot in hell. Forever.

austin_blue Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:15:42pm

OT:

Since the Libyan explosion last year, I have been looking at Al Jazeera more and more as an accurate source of breaking news in the Middle east. This makes me:

A) A stupid Kaffir;

B) A Useful Idiot; or

C) Someone who reads a shitpot of news and follows up on original reports to determine their accuracy later.

From Al Jezeera:

Sixteen dead in Giza protests.

Charles Johnson Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:19:27pm

Hey now!

The real “fruit loops”: Michael Moynihan, Damian Thompson, “Prof” John Schindler, Louise Mensch, Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs.
— Wayne Madsen (@WMRDC) July 3, 2013

Amory Blaine Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:21:02pm

Here’s a link to a post I made last night about the Milwaukee Archdiocese.

Marie Rohde has been an excellent reporter on the subject since the beginning.

There is also a link to the released documents.

Decatur Deb Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:22:15pm

from the Magical Balance Archangel:

beliefnet.com

O’Malley is still bound to his church’s ideas on birth control, abortion, etc. but he took a decent (necessary) path to clean up Bernard Law’s sewer in Boston. It helps that he’s a Franciscan, and may not own property.

Amory Blaine Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:24:41pm

re: #16 Decatur Deb

I believer Listecki was brought in specifically because of this. He is a hardliner.

Amory Blaine Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:27:44pm

re: #26 Amory Blaine

I believer Listecki was brought in specifically because of this. He is a hardliner.

Jerome Listecki defends transfer of funds off archdiocese’s books

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki on Tuesday defended his predecessor’s transfer of $57 million off the Roman Catholic archdiocese’s books and into a special cemetery trust, saying Archbishop Timothy Dolan, now cardinal of New York, was simply ensuring that the funds would be used for their intended purpose.

“The cemetery funds have always been seen as an asset in trust, and Cardinal Dolan perpetuated that,” Listecki told WTMJ-AM on Tuesday.

A document released Monday as part of the bankruptcy shows Dolan sought Vatican approval for the transfer in June 2007, saying it would help protect the funds “from any legal claim or liability.”

Victims and their attorneys have called the move a fraudulent transfer that is illegal under U.S. bankruptcy code, which prohibits moving assets in a way that benefits one class of creditors over another. Dolan and the archciocese deny that the transfer was unlawful.

WTMJ is a hard right AM radio station. (The Milwaukee Journal)

thedopefishlives Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:28:22pm

re: #27 Amory Blaine

*cough*BULLSHIT*cough*

William Barnett-Lewis Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:42:30pm

re: #25 Decatur Deb

from the Magical Balance Archangel:

beliefnet.com

O’Malley is still bound to his church’s ideas on birth control, abortion, etc. but he took a decent (necessary) path to clean up Bernard Law’s sewer in Boston. It helps that he’s a Franciscan, and may not own property.

There’s this Jesuit over in Rome trying to fix a few things too. Hope he’s able to do more than some have…

Dark_Falcon Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:44:34pm

re: #6 Charles Johnson

It’s a criminal conspiracy to protect the worst kind of human monsters, because they’re bringing in the donations.

Which monsters are bringing in donations? This sounds more like liability avoidance than fundraising protection.

Feline Fearless Leader Tue, Jul 2, 2013 7:59:49pm

re: #14 austin_blue

Hard to imagine a Vatican hit squad using suppressed .22s to remove the offenders.

Now the *victims* on the other hand….

Oh, and to be clear, I’m a retired Catholic.

Youtube Video

Figure that with the Catholic Church being around longer they’d be even better organized.

lawhawk Wed, Jul 3, 2013 4:48:18am

Protecting church assets from a potential lawsuit that would have made use of the funds to compensate victims of priests who were sex abusers and the now Cardinal thinks this was appropriate

From an administrative view, he is justifying the move to protect church assets.

From a human point of view, this is as bad as it gets - he was knowingly shifting funds around so that when the eventual suits are filed, tried, and judgments handed down, there’s no money for compensation and the diocese can declare itself bankrupt.

That shows a level of moral bankruptcy in purposefully moving money into areas that can’t be touched all because the diocese didn’t want to pay out (and declare bankruptcy to avoid payouts).

Dolan’s got to go. He’s as much a part of the problem as anyone who abused - and while he’s now claiming zero tolerance, he gave the victims one last screwing by moving those funds instead of setting up a victim compensation fund to address these claims.

If he had shifted assets to create a victim compensation fund, I would have a whole lot more respect for him, but he took measures so that the diocese would have nothing available to compensate the victims.

Danforth Wed, Jul 3, 2013 8:10:57am

“Prepare to be shocked,” he wrote. “There are some graphic descriptions about the behavior of some of these priest offenders.”

The salient question: why weren’t those in power shocked by the graphic descriptions?

William of Orange Wed, Jul 3, 2013 9:34:16am

We utter these words often in amazement, but seldom have they been more appropriate:

Holy shit…

Spy Mode Auto

This article has been archived.
Comments are closed.

Jump to top

Cardinal Dolan Transferred $57 Million to a Cemetery Fund to Shield It From Sexual Abuse Victims

► LGF Headlines

► Top 10 Comments

► Bottom Comments

► Recent Comments

► Tools/Info

► Tag Cloud