330 to Share $21 Million in Abuse Settlement With Milwaukee Archdiocese

Leaders of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee said Tuesday that they had reached a $21 million settlement with hundreds of victims of sexual abuse by clergy members, though the agreement is still subject to approval by a federal judge.Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki

The archdiocese, which has been entangled in bankruptcy proceedings since 2011, reached the deal after years of sometimes bitter negotiations. Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki said the settlement, if approved by the court, would end the bankruptcy case.

“Today, we turn the page on a terrible part of our history and we embark on a new road lined with hope, forgiveness and love,” Archbishop Listecki said in a statement.

Mike Finnegan, a lawyer whose Minnesota law firm represents most of the victims, said the settlement amount should have been higher and criticized the archdiocese’s legal tactics. The settlement was “not a victory for survivors,” he said, but was better than the alternatives likely in bankruptcy court.

“This archdiocese has fought more aggressively than any other in the country” facing sexual abuse claims, Mr. Finnegan said.dolan

The $21 million will be shared among 330 abuse survivors, the archdiocese said. Payment amounts will vary, with a court-appointed administrator determining how much each person receives. The settlement also calls for a $500,000 therapy fund for abuse survivors.

The sexual abuse allegations against Wisconsin clergy are among many across the country that have led to large settlements and criticism of the Catholic Church. The San Diego diocese reached a settlement of nearly $200 million with 144 people in 2007. The diocese in Wilmington, Del., settled for $77 million with 146 abuse victims in 2011.

The Milwaukee archdiocese said its agreement with the victims would be detailed in court filings later this month, and likely reviewed by a judge in November. Mr. Finnegan said he expects the settlement to be approved.

Archbishop Listecki said the possibility of exiting bankruptcy court after more than four years was a welcome development, and he offered conciliatory words for the victims in his statement.

“This settlement represents for us in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee a new Pentecost, a day of rebirth that renews our focus on word, worship and service,” the archbishop said. “We do so remembering those who have been harmed; keeping them in our prayers; supporting them through therapy and healing; promising never to forget the evil that has been done; and working diligently to ensure this never happens again.”

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Norway Police Raid Catholic Diocese Premises

Bishop Bernt Ivar Eidsvig is charged with aggravated fraud.

Norway Police Raid Catholic Diocese Premises

Photo: Jan-Erik Løken | Bishop Bernt Ivar Eidsvig

Finance and Environment Crime Section of the Oslo police raided administration premises of Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo (OKB) this morning at 9.00.

After Dagbladet revealed that the Catholic church has registered unsuspecting persons as members and received public support on the basis of inflated membership figures for several years, County Governor of Oslo and Akershus decided to start an investigation in November.

This morning, Oslo police raided the administration building of Roman Catholic Diocese and two residents this morning in the frame of the fraud allegations.

Oslo Catholic Diocese and two people including the bishop are now charged with aggravated fraud, summing 50 million NOK, said prosecutor Kristin Rusdal to Dagbladet.

Bishop Bernt Eidsvig previously rejected that the suspicious membership registration that the church practices may be illegal.
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Church digs up graveyard to build ‘£1m home’ for vicar: Neighbours ‘disgusted’ after watching bones being exhumed to make way for house

  • Loughton Baptist Church is building the home for Reverend Wayne Dulson
  • Neighbours saw graves pre-dating 1860 dug up to make way for property
  • Plans for the home were initially turned down by Epping Forest Council
  • They were overturned on appeal to the planning inspectorate  

A vicar has outraged neighbours after having bodies exhumed to make way for his new family home next to the church.

Residents, including children, watched as bones from resting places pre-dating 1860 were dug up and transferred to coffins before being taken away.Reverend Wayne Dulson

They say they are disgusted at the Reverend Wayne Dulson and Loughton Baptist Church’s lack of sensitivity over the matter and claim the move is motivated by money.

The locals claim a perfectly good four-bedroom manse not far from the Essex church was sold last year for £630,000 to fund the project and the new one could be worth over £1million when complete.

Underwriter Colin Hart, 50, whose family home backs on to the church, said: ‘I’m disgusted that a supposed man of the cloth should go round digging up bodies from their final place of rest. Local people have entrusted their loved ones to this church and this is how they behave.’

His wife, Julie, 48, added: ‘Whatever happened to rest in peace? We woke up to the sound of a JCB out the back and you could see them loading coffins from the back garden.’

Mother-of-four Simone Cohen, 52, said: ‘What I found most upsetting was that when they transferred the bones into coffins, the children could see everything.’

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Atlanta archbishop apologizes over $2.2M mansion

File under: Follow the money

 

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Atlanta apologized Monday for building a $2.2 million mansion for himself, a decision criticized by local Catholics who cited the example of austerity set by the new pope.2008_08_09_Pistor_BoardInvestigating_ph_Gregory

Archbishop Wilton Gregory recently moved into a nearly 6,400-square-foot (595-square-meter) residence. Its construction was made possible by a large donation from the estate of Joseph Mitchell, nephew of Margaret Mitchell, author of “Gone With The Wind,” the Civil War epic that made his family wealthy. When Mitchell died in 2011, he left an estate worth more than $15 million to the archdiocese on the condition it be used for “general religious and charitable purposes.”

Gregory said that he has received criticism over the spending in letters, emails and telephone messages.

“I am disappointed that, while my advisors (sic) and I were able to justify this project fiscally, logistically and practically, I personally failed to project the cost in terms of my own integrity and pastoral credibility with the people of God of north and central Georgia,” Gregory said in a column posted on the website of the archdiocesan newspaper, The Georgia Bulletin.

“I failed to consider the impact on the families throughout the Archdiocese who, though struggling to pay their mortgages, utilities, tuition and other bills, faithfully respond year after year to my pleas to assist with funding our ministries and services,” he added.

The Catholic leader said he will discuss the situation with several diocesan councils, including a special meeting of its finance council. If church representatives want the bishop to sell the home, Gregory said he will do so and move elsewhere.

The purchase of the sprawling home was part of a real estate deal made possible by money from Joseph Mitchell’s estate.

In his will, Mitchell requested that primary consideration be given to the Cathedral of Christ The King, where he worshipped. The cathedral received $7.5 million for its capital fund and spent roughly $1.9 million to buy the archbishop’s old home, according to tax records. Cathedral officials are planning to spend an additional $292,000 to expand Gregory’s old home so its priests can live there, freeing up space on the cathedral’s cramped campus.

After selling his home, Gregory needed a new residence.

The archbishop said that he made a mistake while designing a home with large meeting spaces and rooms for receptions and gatherings.

“What we didn’t stop to consider, and that oversight rests with me and me alone, was that the world and the Church have changed,” Gregory said.

He demolished the one-story home on Mitchell’s property, which was donated to the church, and replaced it with a Tudor-style mansion. In January, a group of local Catholics met with the archbishop and asked that he sell the large home and return to his old residence. They cited the example of Pope Francis, who turned down living quarters in a Vatican palace and drives a simple car.

“The example of the Holy Father, and the way people of every sector of our society have responded to his message of gentle joy and compassion without pretense, has set the bar for every Catholic and even for many who don’t share our communion,” Gregory said.

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Minnesota Catholic Church Leaders Cover Abuse With Cash

File under:  Follow The Money

 

by Robert Lawson

Catholic church leaders in Minnesota were investigated by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), who alleges that the church embezzled funds to cover child abuse and other misconduct with church cash, sources in the Twin Cities report. The investigation cited internal church documents to make their case that leaders of the Catholic church, such as the Archdiocese in the Twin Cites (Minneapolis/Saint Paul), paid millions of dollars to keep secrets quiet.

Minnesota-Catholic-Church-Leaders-Cover-Abuse-with-Cash-450x337MPR reported that the church had several secret accounts that led to financial abuse in the system. The accounts were used for payoffs for people like Rev. Stanley Kozlak, who fathered a child. Kozlak received payoffs for rent and living until he reached the age to retire on social security benefits. The internal documents in the church indicate that part of the agreement held that Kozlak would still be a priest, the Archbishop would have to sign a letter that states Kozlak isn’t a pedophile and that there would be negotiated child support. Over the course of nine years, from 2002 to 2011, the accounts had been used repeatedly and paid out around $11 million. That amounts to about three percent of revenue for that time period.

The efforts by the Catholic church to deal with clergy problems is staggering. Money was used to quietly allow some to leave their ministries. This strategy proved to be the back door to embezzlement within their secretly constructed financial system. Legal costs and therapy were also listed expenditures. In one instance, a private investigator was hired and paid more than $1o0,000 the Rochester Post Bulletin reported via Associated Press (AP). The Minnesota Catholic church leaders investigated appeared to have decided it was easier to cover up the problems with cash, but other abuse followed and it proved to be an expensive strategy.

The archdiocese made a statement on Thursday to address news of the investigation by MPR. They said they already hired a new CFO in December of 2012 to improve transparency, according to the report in the Post Bulletin. There are no government regulators that the Catholic church leaders are accountable to and the archbishop can spend money how he sees fit. There is a council that advises him, however. There will be a full audit completed by February.

MPR investigated to find that these payments, referred to as “disability” in the ledger account, were paid to victims and clergy. MPR reported a culture that kept many secrets within the walls of the Catholic church. Once accountant already pleaded guilty to stealing around $650,000 in cash from the church during these activities. He said people there knew what questions not to ask.

The MPR report and investigation also reveals the plump and healthy financial condition of the church, which has been infused with revenue over a five-year time span. Their operating revenue was up to around $40 million up to the point of 2011. Cash levels and assets grew as well, but now the Catholic church faces pressure from legal circumstances. The Minnesota Catholic church leaders tried to cover abuse with cash only to find more abuse and the threat of losing that very cash.

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