New Orleans – Hanging a list of hunter Catholic priests as leaders of the New Orleans Church, hanging to an unexpected colleague: They turn to an unexpected colleague: the city’s NFL suffrage front office.
According to hundreds of internal emails received by the Associated Press, a month-long month-long, crisis-communication Blitz was organized by the President of New Orleans Saints and other top team officials.
Records, saints and church had long demanded to exclude from public perspectives, said that the team officials said that the team officials had more than already known in a public relations campaign to reduce the fall from the pastor sexual exploitation crisis Was played a broad role. Email laid new lights on the foray of the monk in a terrible subject, away from the gridarone, a rear visual effort operated by the team’s devotional Catholic owner, who enjoyed a close relationship with the long -standing city’s embossed archbishop.
He also showed how various New Orleans Institutes – from a sitting federal judge to local media – held a rally around Church leaders in a vital moment.
In major moments, as saints have revealed in their emails:
– The disadvantage control of the church officials of the monk were so involved that a team spokesperson informed his boss for hours on a call with the top prosecutor of the city on a call of hours, when the church released the list of the pastor accused of misconduct. Call, spokesperson said, “allowed us to take some people away” from the list.
– Team officials were among the first people outside the church to see the list, cuisted with a careful, yet the roster of the suspected pedophile was reduced. The disclosure of those names invited civil claims against the church and attracted attention from federal and state law enforcement.
– Team President, Dennis Lusa drafted more than a dozen questions, which should be prepared to respond to the Archbishop Gregory Imond as he faced reporters.
-Senior Vice President of Sannyasi, Greg Bensale provided a fly-on-the-wall update to Loccha about local media interviews, the church and team leaders were in the same team. “He is doing well,” Bentell wrote that the archbishop told reporters that the church was committed to addressing the crisis. “This is our message,” Benell said, “that we will not stop here today.”
The email obtained by AP rapidly assured the undercut assurance that the saints had given fans about public relations guidance five years ago when they said that they had provided only “minimum” assistance to the church. The team went to court to keep their internal email secret.
“It’s disgusting,” said State Rape Mandy Landry, D-New Orleans. “As a New Orleans resident, taxpayer and Catholic, it does not mean to me why saints would have to go to these lengths to protect children who raped children. All of them should have been equally frightened on the allegations. ,
The monk told AP last week that the partnership was a matter of the past. The emails cover the period of one year ending in July 2019, when they were accused of raping an 8 -year -old boy by lawyers for the victims of a priest later.
In a long statement, the team criticized the media, “criticized the media for using” leaked email “with the aim of wrongly intended to wrongly intended efforts.
The team said, “No member of the monk organization does not want to cover any member of Condon or the misuse of New Orleans’ ArchdoyC.” “This is a terrible fact that happened.”
The team’s reaction greatly reduced the anger of the remaining people of the pastor sexual abuse. “We felt betrayal by the organization,” said Kevin Burjua, a former sannyasin season ticket holder, who abused a priest in the 1980s. “This forces me to ask what other mysteries are being stopped. I am angry, hurt and find out again. ,
Emails reveal the limit of help
After AP was first reported on Alliance in early 2020, Gayle Benson, owner of the monk, denied that “anyone associated with our organizations made recommendations or in the list of inputs in the list of inputs.
The monk reiterated the denial in his statement on Saturday, stating that a monk employees had no responsibility to “connect or remove any name from that list.” The team said that no employee has offered “any input, suggestion or opinion that should be included or left from the list.
The then district Attorney Leon Leon Canaro had rejected any role in shaping the accused pastor list last week, which he resonated in 2020. He told AP that “there was no participation in removing any name from any list.” Cannizzaro said he did not know that the monk’s spokesman would have stated that he was on a call related to the list.
Saints sent from accounts, do not specify which clergy were removed from or why. They raise new questions, however, about the role of a monk in a scam, which has taken the team at a very big legal and financial stake since joining it, possibly NFL’s policy against “harmful to the league” in violation of.
A colleague of New Orleans Institutes
The external role of the Saints officials can attract new attention from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodll, which is scheduled to address reporters on Monday as New Orleans are set to host their 11th Super Bowl. Messages requesting the comment were sent to NFL.
Together, emails depict a co -ordinator of many New Orleans institutions. The US District Court Judge J. Zaini, who was copied by a monk on public relations efforts, happy with his personal email account, thanked the team spokesperson “for” amazing advice “. The editor of a newspaper thanked Bentell for joining similarly.
“You’ve killed all the points,” Zaini, a fellow Catholic, wrote to the Benell in another email, praising a long note, which a spokesman of saints sent to the editors of local newspapers made a long note Praised. “With his example and leadership, Archbishop Aymand, our Shepherd, will continue to lead our church in the right direction – help us to learn and rebuild the mistakes of the past.”
Zaini later killed a Louisiana law, which was strictly opposed by the church, allowing the victims to bring civic claims, even though the alleged sexual abuse occurred. He refused to comment.
A watershed moment for Catholic Church
A watershed was marked in heavy Catholic New Orleans in this list-a long-awaited Meya Kulpa is intended to enter remuneration and local accountability. It came at a time when the church leaders were trying to maintain public belief – and financial assistance – as they were with generations of misconduct and increasing litigation, which eventually took the ArchdayC of New Orleans to bankruptcy.
The litigation filed in 2020 involves more than 600 people who say they were abused by the pastor. The case has created a contingent of the Still-CC Church records, stating that the documents of the years of abuse claims and a pattern of leaders of the church have a pattern of the priests without reporting their crimes for law enforcement to their crimes. Moved to.
Although it has expanded, the list of accused priests was recalling several pastimes when it was originally released, found in the first AP investigation.
AP identified 20 pastors who were accused in cases or were charged by law enforcement with child sexual abuse, which were unnecessarily released from the New Orleans list – two of which were charged and crimes. Was convicted.
Nevertheless, the list has served as a roadmap for both FBI and Louisiana State Police, which began a comprehensive investigation into the preservation of hunter priests of New Orleans Church leaders.
In the previous spring, the state police conducted a comprehensive discovery warrant at the Archdioce of New Orleans, seizing the record containing communication with the Vatican.
Since the monk started the assistance of Archdiosi, at least seven present and former members of the local pastor have been accused of crimes from rape to child pornography.
Public relations campaign
The limit of misconduct in 2018 was largely unknown, in a year the monk won nine consecutive games in the way of NFC Championship appearance. As the church prepared for a media attack, Benell launched an aggressive public relations campaign, in which he called in the favor, prepared the talk points and bent on the media contacts for a long time, which “soon” Wali Messi was to support the church through “. Time.
Away from freelancing, Benell had the support and blessings of saints, which he called the “Galileo Moment”, suggesting that Aymond would be a trailblazer to release a reliable accused pastor list at an important time for the Aymond Church. In email to editorial boards, he warned against “Casting a Critical Eye” on the archbishop “neither beneficial nor correct.”
He urged the city newspapers to “work” with the church, remind them of saints and New Orleans Pelican – the city’s NBA team, Benson’s ownership – for their support, successful thanks were successful in part, for their support. Was.
“We did this because we had purchased from you,” Bennsal wrote to the editors of Times-Pikayune and New Orleans, “to make everything the best within New Orleans and its limits, to make our mission best Supporting our mission. ” ,
He said, “We are now sitting on that occasion with the ArchdoyC of New Orleans.” “We need to tell the story how this archbishop is taking us ahead with this dirt.”
Countless relations between saints and Catholic Church
Banson and Imand, Archbishop, have been confidant over the years. It was the archbishop who introduced Banson to her late husband, Tom Banson, who died in 2018, leaving her widow under the control of New Orleans NFL and NBA franchise.
Banson’s foundation has given millions of dollars to ArchidoC and other Catholic causes. The way, the Aymond has swept over the owner’s private jet and has become almost a part of the team, often celebrates the pregem public.
When the priests of saints, Benell, Benell, Bennsal were accused of abusing their contacts in the local media to help shape the story. He once had a favorable email exchange with a pillar columnist who praised the archbishop for releasing the pastor list. He asked the leadership of the newspaper to “confidential, neither to share with others for publication.”
His email revealed that after Advocate – Ayamond personally complained to the publisher – removed a notice from an online article, which had called the priest misconduct victims to reach out.
Kevin Hall, Chairman and Publisher of Georges Media, who owns the newspaper, said that the publication welcomes the engagement with community leaders, but this outreach “” does not dilute our journalism standards or by chasing us the truth Stops. ”
He said in a statement, “No one gets preference treatment in our coverage of news.” “In the last six years, we have published intense intensive stories, which highlight the serious issues going on around the ArchdyC sex abuse crisis, as well as the report on the matter on the matter by WWL-TV and by Associated Press.”
It was an advocate reporting that inspired Basel to help the church, to show email. She first offered the “Chat Crisis Communications” with the Church leaders when the newspaper exposed a scam, including an insult Decan, George Brignac, who raped an 8 -year -old altar boy. He remained a late minister even after the disposal of ArchdayC with it.
“We have become enough to have a help or sounding board through the monk,” Bannsale wrote, “but I don’t want to overseas!”