Tag: catholic church

Sports Illustrated report raises questions about Saints’ involvement in Catholic abuse crisis

Sports Illustrated suggests the Saints were more intimately connected to the local Archdiocese public relations response than they claimed.

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A new report from Jenny Vrentas for Sports Illustrated suggests that the New Orleans Saints were more intimately involved with the public relations campaign for the local Catholic Church following a sexual abuse scandal than the team’s management initially claimed.

Saints owner Gayle Benson, who inherited the team from her late husband Tom Benson, issued a statement back in February that said the team’s executive vice president of communications, Greg Bensel, was asked to assist the church in preparing its public response to allegations and the ongoing lawsuit from abuse survivors. A list of 50-plus clergy who had been charged or identified was released Nov. 2, 2018, with Benson describing Bensel’s involvement as having begun just weeks earlier.

However, Vrentas’ report disrupts that timeline. An email exchange between Benson and Benson added to the public record was dated July 8, 2018, coming a day after a local report from The Advocate on one accused clergy member. While the text of those messages remains confidential, the timing and its inclusion in a subpoena would imply Bensel had been working with the archdiocese communications staff for months, not weeks, before the list was published.

And that’s the crux of the issue here. The church’s initial list included 57 names, but it’s grown over time to 63. An Associated Press report claims at least 20 more names should have been listed, leading plaintiffs’ attorneys to ask how big of a role, if any, the Saints played as an organization in determining which of the accused should be listed and who should not.

With the trial on hold — the Church filed for bankruptcy in May — it could take time for correspondence between Saints executives and the archdiocese to come to light, if it ever does. Vrentas’ reporting digs deeply into the experiences of abuse survivors and their now-complicated relationship with the Saints, but it’s a tough read.

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Gayle Benson issues statement amid Saints’ involvement in Catholic abuse lawsuit

New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson released a statement regarding her team’s involvement in a lawsuit against the local Catholic Church.

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New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson released a lengthy statement regarding the team’s involvement in a lawsuit against the local Catholic Archdiocese, detailing her relationship with Archbishop Gregory Michael Aymond and the actions taken by Saints team personnel.

A lawsuit was recently filed against the Archdiocese alleging systemic abuse by clergy, and the Saints were implicated as having gone to court to protect email correspondence with the Church during a report from the Associated Press. A later report from the plaintiffs’ attorneys provided alleged details about the involvement of Saints staffers such as Greg Bensel, the senior vice president of communications.

In her statement, Benson confirmed that Bensel was asked to help the Church’s communications staff and that she has no regrets about the recommendations he made. She also dismissed the report that any Saints personnel were involved in choosing which accused clergy’s names should be made public back in 2018. However, she doubled down on the decision to involve the Saints in the situation with the Church.

Benson wrote, “We are proud of the role we played and yes, in hindsight, we would help again to assist the Archdiocese in its ability to publish the list with the hope of taking this step to heal the community. In addition, we already turned over every email to the court and plaintiff attorneys.”

Later, attorneys representing the plaintiffs responded in a brief statement to The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate, refuting Benson’s account of the events:

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New allegations detail Saints’ involvement in Catholic abuse crisis

The New Orleans Saints are involved in a lawsuit against the Catholic church, and new allegations suggest the team’s role was significant.

The New Orleans Saints recently were involved in a lawsuit against the local Roman Catholic diocese, which alleges the team actively helped cover up years-long systemic sexual abuse by clergy. Jim Mustian of the Associated Press reported Thursday that the lawyers representing abuse victims detailed the Saints’ role in the still-developing story.

“This goes beyond public relations,” accused the plaintiffs’ attorneys, “The Saints appear to have had a hand in determining which names should or should not have been included on the pedophile list.”

While the Saints have maintained that their role was limited to assisting with public relations work surrounding the allegations and lawsuit, these latest claims characterize hundreds of emails between the Saints organization and the church as helping to determine which alleged abusers’ names should be made public. Plaintiffs claim that multiple Saints staffers are involved, including Senior Vice President of Communications Greg Bensel. Whether Bensel acted on his own or under the instruction of team owner Gayle Benson is unclear; both are ardent supporters of the church and friends of Archbishop Gregory Aymond.

In 2018, the church released a list of 57 clergy credibly accused of abuse, but eight new names have since been added. The Associated Press report suggests at least 20 more clergy members should have been included. And that runs against the Saints’ own explanations of their role in the events.

These new allegations follow a Wednesday report from The Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan that the NFL is not investigating the Saints for their involvement with the church regarding the lawsuit and the incidents that prompted it. The Saints are fighting in court to keep 200-plus emails exchanged between the team and the diocese private, arguing that the documents should not be made public so long as the trial remains private. Kaplan adds that the NFL does not plan on investigating the Saints unless those emails are made public and reveal actions that would violate the league’s personal conduct policy.

We’re early in this process, and this is very much a developing story. Check this space for updates in the days ahead.

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Saints issue statement regarding involvement with Catholic abuse scandal

The New Orleans Saints released a statement following an Associated Press report regarding their involvement in a Catholic abuse lawsuit.

A report from the Associated Press revealed that the New Orleans Saints are involved in an ongoing lawsuit against the local Catholic archdiocese, in which two dozen men have accused the church in being complicit in systemic abuse over past decades. The Saints’ role in court proceedings lies in 200-plus emails exchanged between team personnel and members of the archdiocese, including correspondence with Senior Vice President of Communications Greg Bensel.

Hours after this first AP report, the Saints released their own statement on what’s going on, characterizing their message to the archdiocese as an offering of full transparency and cooperation with law enforcement. Specifically, their core message read, “The advice was simple and never wavering. Be direct, open and fully transparent, while making sure that all law enforcement agencies were alerted.”

We’re just now getting very early insight into what will be a lengthy legal process, so the contents of the documents the Saints are trying to prevent from being made public is unclear. It’s too soon to speculate about what impact — if any — this will make on the organization at large, whether it means staffing changes, potential discipline per the NFL personal conduct policy, or Gayle Benson’s ownership of the team. We just don’t have enough facts to guess right now, and neither does anyone else. So check this space for updates in the near future.

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