Over the last 48 hours, many of you have had Memphis on your lips given Wednesday’s striking removal of Bishop Martin Holley – given his steadfast refusal to resign, the first such Roman ouster of a US prelate in living memory – followed quickly by the deposed prelate’s even more breathtaking self-immolation in an interview published late Thursday by Catholic News Agency.
Well-placed as that focus might’ve been yesterday, over the hours since, something even bigger’s come to pass….
Again.
A week since initial word emerged of the US Department of Justice’s most sweeping investigation to date into abuse and its cover-up, as an extension into the Feds’ nascent grand-jury probe of the dioceses of Pennsylvania, every last Stateside Chancery has now received an effective nationwide order “to not destroy, discard, dispose of, delete, or alter” a host of records pertaining to personnel in general, and abuse – and its related claims – in particular.
Dated October 9th – the same day the FBI swooped in with subpoenas for the clerical files of Pennsylvania’s eight Latin-church dioceses and two Eastern archeparchies – the letter was privately circulated to the nation’s hierarchy by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops on Tuesday, 23 October, and has duly spread since among internal counsels and personnel-chiefs across the Stateside church’s 198 jurisdictions.
Addressed to the bench’s president, Houston’s Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the “requested” national “hold” of documents was signed by William McSwain, the Trump-appointed US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, whose Philadelphia-based office has launched the historic investigation – believed to be the first such inquest seeking to put the church under the microscope of the Federal “RICO” laws: the racketeering statutes usually reserved for organized crime.
While Whispers has obtained and confirmed the full document – which includes a sprawling, 20-point addendum citing specific instances in Canon Law – to avoid what’s become an increasingly casual and common plagiarism of these pages’ work by other entities, here’s the first page of McSwain’s letter:
Originally slated for Wednesday of this week, house ops report that the first appearance of the Pennsylvania bishops before the Federal panel has been slightly delayed.
Meanwhile, given the lack of civil or canonical jurisdiction the DC Mothership has over the local churches – an issue likewise relevant to the coming debates over prelates’ accountability apart from the oversight of the Holy See – it bears noting that legal disputes over the force of any request to the USCCB have already flared up anew in Chanceries and beyond. Nonetheless, as it’s the Feds calling, to an unprecedented degree, the warning is served.
Full story at Whispers in the Loggia.
Good. Maybe they’ll investigate American public elementary and secondary schools. I won’t hold my breath.
First page of McSwain’s letter not carried forward from the link. Worth a read.
Since the Bishops apparently have done little or nothing to insure that documents are preserved, the secular legal authorities have to take over. I have long sensed abuse cover up will end only when Bishops, cooperating clergy and lay staff realize this will result in criminal prosecution and likely jail time.
I am afraid that when the corruption of the church hierarchy in America is exposed by the feds, there will be another wave of defections from the church and it will face near collapse.
Those who engage in organized homosexual abuse should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. They should never have a chance to get out of jail.
So much for mercy, or the rule of law for that matter.
So much for mercy for those who are sexually abused by homosexuals.
Cardinal Wuerl´s revenge continues. From the link provided: “Wuerl was under consideration to be transferred from Washington to a high-level Vatican position, as Vatican Secretary of State. Holley was then an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Washington. Holley says he was asked by Pope Benedict XVI to provide input on the prospect of appointing Wuerl, and that he offered testimony expressing concern about Wuerl’s fitness for the job. Wuerl was not appointed to the position.”
I’m not sure the logic of the original article. If Holly was asked by Benedict to comment on Wuerl, and if that caused Wuerl to carry a grudge against Holly, and if Wuerl had so much influence over Ouillet and Francis, why would Wuerl ever have allowed Holly to become the ordinary in Memphis at the hands of Ouillet and Francis. This smacks of yet another fake accusation by someone who just wants to shift the blame from themselves.
The devil and some Protestants are laughing uproariously. The recent scandals, which will undoubtedly result in a significant decline in the Catholic Church in America, fulfills one of their biggest hopes. The Church will be crucified and certainly parishes and schools will be closed due to a decline in membership. The vacant properties will be sold. Many of these facilities are prime real estate which have been sought after by real estate developers for many years. Former Catholics are already flocking to Protestant denominations and taking their financial support with them. Our Lord was murdered and yet he lives! We place our hope in Him and hope the Church will be resurrected one day.
asset forfeiture
big time
The Church in the U.S. became over the past one hundred years financially wealthy. As time passed, it has become increasingly spiritually impoverished. The financial wealth has now started to wane as the impoverishment of the spirit continues. A crisis has begun.
Pope Benedict said the future may see a smaller but purer Church. All signs indicate he was correct.
The DOJ spoliation letter is extraordinary in one key way, it suggests certain Constitutional issues in any future suit. Such letters are common in litigation. However, here, the Federal Government raises the potential of possibly interfering with the free exercise of religion, contrary to the First Amendment. Recall that wording: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof[.]” Looked at another way, it would seem foolish for the Government to seek a widespread remedy that would require the selling of Churches, parochial schools, etc. It could seek, however, serious remedies against culpable individuals, unless they were also considered “citizens” of the Vatican.
What is the point of seizing assets if the perpetrators go untouched?