Every day for the past ten weeks, Msgr. William J. Lynn has been accompanied to trial by four full-time defense lawyers. A conservative estimate is that the archdiocese is spending $75,000 a week on those four defense lawyers, or $750,000 for the past ten weeks of trial.
But the costs of the archdiocese's legal bill is much higher than that. In the archdiocese's new financial report issued this month, it was disclosed that the church has spent $11.6 million in response to the 2011 grand jury investigation of the archdiocese.
In a letter to parishioners that accompanied the new financial report, Archbishop Charles Chaput said the church spent $1.6 million in the 2011 fiscal year, and another $10 million over nine months of the 2012 fiscal year that ended March 31.
"Following the grand jury report, nine separate civil lawsuits were filed in Philadelphia County against the Archdiocese and certain individual defendants based on alleged clergy sexual abuse of minors," Chaput wrote. "As fiscal 2011 closed, the Archdiocese learned that its former CEO had embezzled nearly $1 million over a period of years."
"The cost of responding to the grand jury report, the investigations related to priests on administrative leave, the subsequent criminal and legal proceedings, and the investigation into the embezzlement have been heavy," Chaput wrote. "The expense is funded solely by an entity known as our Office of Financial Services [OFS] which represents the central administrative functions of the Archdiocese."
"The resources to pay for these costs have not -- and will not -- come from contributions to the Catholic Charities Appeal [CCA] or Heritage of Faith-Vision of Hope [HOF-VOH]," Chaput wrote. "Rather, they are being funded through cash and investment reserves, cash proceeds generated from the sale of excess real estate holdings or other assets owned by the Archdiocese itself."
The archbishop recently announced that he was putting the former Main Line mansion on sale that was once the private residence of Cardinal Bevilacqua and Cardinal Krol.
The archdiocese public relations office declined comment, asserting that they were under the gag order imposed by Judge M. Teresa Sarmina on lawyers in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia sex abuse case. Uh, OK, that makes sense.
Wonder how Catholics will react to this news?
18 comments
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Especially when the Church could use some of that money to create recovery centers for the hundred thousand or so victims of these priests. Therapy centers. Retreats.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the centers would have to be run by someone other than the bishops for any of the victims to be able to go to them but...
With all the money the church has put out to try to save its reputation, imagine what they could accomplish by creating some kind of foundation with regional recovery centers for the victims?
I sure could use a retreat...
The Church could donate some of its old summer camps as people would be crazy to continue to send their kids for a vacation with priests.
When the Pope OK's paedophilia where else do you go ?
ReplyDeletehttp://vatileaks.blogspot.com.es/2012/06/vaticanpope-benedict-paedophilia-wasnt.html
Thanks for your link. I wanted to add that in a number of court cases the Catholic Church has used as an affirmative defense that they didn't know in the '70s and '80s that priests having sex with children would cause any type of permanent damage. It's a sick and psychotic religion.
Delete"cash and investment reserves"
ReplyDeleteReserves? Cash? If the Catholics in the pews really believe this, where do they think this cash came from? THEM! If I were still going to church, I would make out my weekly envelope donation check to Catholic Charities and nothing else. IF I actually believed Chaput? Which I don't.
Chaput's letter sounds like "OH poor us, we have to pay for lawyers to cover our asses, and that darned Grand Jury report in 2011 made people file claims against us, which we will have to deal with and those priests we were forced to put on leave.... well no one is forgetting about them, so we have to deal with them too. Oh poor poor us!"
How about money to compensate the victims who were raped? How about that? Novel idea don't you think. If the priests had hit the kids with their cars instead of their dicks, all the victims would have been compensated by now. All the victims have not been compensated and according to Dolan and Donahue they will never be. Where's the SNAP dog on that fight? No where that's where. Oh, excuse me the oldest and largest victims group chooses to protect non victims first last and always. What bullshit!
DeleteJim you are right, Chaput is NOT worried about compensating the victims, because he never will! They will fight tooth and nail to avoid helping victims. The Church has many ways of legal maneuverings to claim bankruptcy and hide assets. It should be surprising to no one that if they can protect pedophiles they can sure as hell protect their money!
DeleteNow, the Pope is coming to Philly! What an opportune time, for Archbishop Chaput, NOT for the parishes in Philly, who will be asked to foot the bill, in addition to the 11 Million + that this current trial is going to cost, and that isn't even including APPEALS, in the event that Monsignor Lynn is found guilty. I hope that everyone in the Philly Archdiocese closes their checkbooks, when Chaput asks for money. With the Pope's coming, Chaput has indicated that they will need to raise funds from outside of the Archdiocese. With a little sloppy accounting, there will be more than enough money to go around. The second place that he'll be able to get money will be from the City Fathers of Philly, who will be expected to dish out millions of dollars in Tax Payers Money for the Pope's "Security!" I wonder how big that plan is going to go over for Catholics and non-Catholics, alike? And then, there will be the staggering expense of Color-coordinated Brocade Vestments from Gammarelli's of Rome, for the dozens of priest and bishops, who will be attending the Pope at Mass! It's going to be a luxury that the good people of PA can ill afford! Maybe you all should tell Chaput to run his Archdiocese on Hail Marys!
DeleteMaybe we could get the Federal Dept of Justice to ARREST the pope as soon as he steps down on U.S. soil.
DeleteI know, I'm a dreamer.
Compensate victims? There were victims here? According to the CATHOLIC CHURCH the victims are the priests! Standing ovations for a fellow priest who is under the gun? How can they sanction such? Fellow priests come to court to support their leaders who swept all this under the rug? They are seriously misguided and should all be terminated from their positions. Until the CATHOLIC CHURCH asks for forgiveness and submits all pedophiles to prosecution, they have no higher ground to stand. They must repent!
ReplyDeleteThe Cloyne Diocese in Ireland hardly had any coverage when it should have been world wide news.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0713/cloynetracker.html
One has to wonder if a ten percent tithe of that $10 million does not get a silent, wink, nod, side way push into Bishop Finn's defense fund courtesy of the sheeple in Philly?
ReplyDeleteI doubt it. Finn's indictment is for a misdomeanor and Chaput has bigger fish to fry. It's more likely that the us dioceses are going to be tapped to send $ to Philly to support world family day in 2015.
DeleteBritain paid close to $20 million for security of Benedict's visit in 2010. The first amendment doesn't say anything about paying for a "Head of State"'s security. I hope the Philly faithful have very deep pockets because I see nothing but lawsuits regarding a waste of taxpayer's money paying for a papal royal progress.
DeleteAs a local, my take is that all this will mean is that business will be good and the hotels will be full. The front page of the Philadelphia Daily News gushed with enthusiasm over this on Monday. The federal govt won't even balk at the security bill given the city's financial problems. This will boost tax revenues for the city. Wish this wouldn't be so, but it is.
DeleteWhen's the old A*%hole showing up? Would there would be a silent welcome with everyones' backs turned. But no we'll have to suffer the gleamy eyed lunatics in ecstasy. And it will always focus on young people jazzed beyond belief that they can see the old Nazi. Absolute lunacy!
DeleteSince our archdiocesan leadership is looking for funding to support this Pope soiree in 2015, I would like to make a suggestion. Provided there is no legal, regulatory or ordinance prohibition to such conduct, what do the readers think of area Catholics (or anyone else for that matter) to drop, toss, hurl or throw a penny, several pennies, a bag or two of pennies onto the platform outside of the front door at archdiocesan headquarters at 222 N.17th St. to show our support for this upcoming event? The leader of our archdiocese has asked for our financial support for this endeavor and such conduct would represent a contribution (“Pennies from Heaven”).
ReplyDeleteIf this really catches on at this location, it may be advisable to take our “contribution caravan” out there to City and Cardinal Aves. in order to start “placing” our pennies on the grounds of the Bishop’s residence. Yes, I know, it would be somewhat more difficult at that address and would require that contributors heave their pennies over the fence-enclosed estate.
http://vatileaks.blogspot.com.es/2012/06/vatican-is-victim-of-blackmail.html
ReplyDeletePR Spokesman claim's the Vatican is being 'Blackmailed'. Looks like someone may have some child abuse sex allegations closer to home and the fear is they may be revealed!
http://vatileaks.blogspot.com.es/2012/06/cardinal-egan-vaticans-archbishop-of.html
ReplyDeleteSome names to the faces present with Cardinal Egan, may be of interest. I mentioned before the Papal Knights of Malta and the missing British child Maddie McCann...there are a lot of links connected to the SMOM.