Note this just happened even though charges and absences were decades ago.
he Vatican has ousted three men from the priesthood years after they were accused in sex , the Archdiocese of Boston said yesterday
Louis J. Govoni….
has been absent without permission from the archdiocese since 1978.
Frederick Guthrie took a leave from the archdiocese in July 2001
All three men sought through a voluntary process to be removed from the clerical state, the archdiocese said.
An attorney for victims of clergy sex abuse suggested Friday that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee moved as much as $75 million off its books over the last six years in an effort to shield it from sex abuse settlements - allegations denied by the archdiocese.
transfer of a separate $55 million into a newly created cemetery trust in 2008, a year after the Wisconsin Supreme Court opened the door for victims to sue the archdiocese for fraud.
$75 million belonged to parishes and was held by the archdiocese in an investment account until 2004, after which it "ceased providing such services." Archdiocese bankruptcy attorney Daryl Diesing said he believes the money was returned to the parishes.
So far, the courts have barred the archdiocese from tapping insurance to fund settlements because the allegations involve fraud, rather than accidents. However that is on appeal to the Wisconsin Supreme Court
Click on the following for more details: Archdiocese accused of moving funds - JSOnline
Parishes and schools are protected, he said, because they're separately incorporated. Endowments and trusts - holding everything from the $105 million Faith in Our Future campaign funds to money meant for the perpetual care of cemeteries - he insisted, cannot be tapped.
But a look at Catholic Church bankruptcies across the country suggests that every one of those - every account, every asset, every legal contract that controls them - is likely to be scrutinized, litigated and negotiated as lawyers try to hammer out a settlement in which the archdiocese would compensate victims and emerge from bankruptcy intact.
It's impossible to predict how Milwaukee's bankruptcy will shake out, experts say. Each one differs based on a diocese's assets, financial and operational structures, and how its state statutes intersect with federal bankruptcy laws.
questioned John Marek, the archdiocese's chief financial officer, about parish corporation boards, which includes the archbishop and his vicar general.
bankruptcy courts have respected the autonomy of parishes in Davenport and Wilmington, where they are separately incorporated.
But some trusts have not been ironclad.
Trust structures were contested in Portland, Spokane and Wilmington. In Wilmington, the court ruled that millions of dollars in an investment trust held by the diocese for parishes, schools, cemeteries and other organizations would become part of the estate because they had been commingled with diocesan funds and couldn't be traced to their original sources - a decision that is now affecting pensions for lay employees.
dioceses that declared bankruptcy agreed to make public apologies; identify abusive priests, including those of religious order priests (that's now being litigated by the priests); build a monument to survivors; and other provisions.
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The lawyer, Jeffrey R. Anderson, who represents clients in 23 lawsuits against the Milwaukee Archdiocese, said $75 million disappeared from the church’s investments in 2005. He said that $55 million more that had previously been unaccounted for appeared in a cemetery trust in 2008, and that the archdiocese claimed that money in that fund was protected by state law and could not be used for payouts.
Click on the following for more details: Archbishop Timothy Dolan May Face Legal Deposition - NYTimes.com
