Catholic Church Abuse: New York Cardinal Attempted to Protect $130 Million from Victims of Sexual Abuse

By Stefan Lopez
Latin Post
July 16, 2013

http://www.latinpost.com/articles/1121/20130702/catholic-church-abuse-new-york-cardinal-attempted-protect-130-million.htm

The Vatican has now come under pressure for attempting to hide millions of dollars from victims of sexual abuse.

The Catholic church has long been scrutinized for its inability to keep sexual predators out of its midst. Now, it is coming to light that one prominent cardinal from New York did very little to protect several children from a sexually deranged priest but had little problem shielding tens of millions of dollars from the abused.

It has been alleged that Cardinal Timothy Dolan was aware of the sexual improprieties made by one of the Church's priests. He then advised the Vatican that it would be wise to move funds from easily-accesible accounts to much more secretive ones.

"Cardinal Dolan's moves involving church assets have come under particular scrutiny. Lawyers for the victims said the documents would prove that he transferred $130 million from the church's books -- about $55 million in a cemetery account, and $75 million in an investment account -- to shield the money from abuse victims," noted the New York Times.

The news has come out after numerous claims against the Catholic Church against one of its priests, the Reverend John O'Brien. Dolan was allegedly aware of his transgressions around 2003. New documents that have been requested in the plaintiff's case against the Catholic Church confirm those allegations.

"After only a few visits they began to hug each other at the end of their time together," Dolan wrote of O'Brien and the teen victim. "Shortly thereafter, in the basement of the church building, Father O'Brien and the boy had explicit sexual contact."

What is most disconcerting about the released documents is the fact that it took the church six years to oust O'Brien as a priest. From 2003 to 2009 they were far more concerned with protecting the Vatican's assets rather than its victims. Unfortunately, it's not because they weren't aware of the severity of the situation.

"The impact on his various victims has been significant," Dolan wrote to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would eventually become Pope Benedict. "The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has yet to even locate all of the potential victims that could come forward for assistance. Our new found awareness of the severity of damage caused by sexual abuse at the hands of clergy makes it impossible for us to ignore this situation."

Contact: s.lopez@latinpost.com