Posted in July, 2008

Archbishop Burke – Kicked Upstairs or Promoted?

Posted by Censor Librorum on Jul 5, 2008 | Categories: Accountability, Bishops, Politics

Kicked upstairs or promoted? Why was Archbishop Raymond Burke named prefect of the Supreme Court of Apostolic Signature, the Vatican’s highest court? abpburke_sacred-heart.jpg

Here’s my guess:

1. The Vatican wanted to hustle him  out as Archbishop of St. Louis.  Too much negative press and too many excommunications. As much as Rome may dislike liberals, especially gadfly clergy, someone stepped in to put an end to Burke’s  punitive management style. The actions against people who disagreed with him were too many, too public, and too harsh.

2. He’s an able canonist, and  a position was available.

3.  To send a message to conservative bishops tempted to  use punitive measures (i.e., denial of Communion) to do so  sparingly.    The Vatican does not want to have to deal with a wave of bad publicity and  backlash among moderate  Catholics which will erase the goodwill left by Pope Benedict’s recent visit.

Like another lighting rod–Bernard Cardinal Law–a change of scenery for Archbishop Burke may be a prudent move by Mother Church.

In 2004 Archbishop Burke was the first member of the hierarchy to announce he would withhold Communion from politicians whose votes contradict Church teaching on “fundamental” moral issues. He came down hard on Catholic presidential candidate John Kerry for his support of legalized abortion.  Most other bishops did not follow his lead, but his action did spur debate and controversy.

But Archbishop Burke had one-two-three strikes of bad PR  in 2008 that probably helped to facilitate his “promotion.”

In March, he excommunicated the WomenPriests who were ordained in November 2007.   American Catholics overwhelmingly support women’s ordination – why wave a red flag?

In April, Burke barred renowned and respected canon lawyer Fr. Thomas Doyle from acting in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Doyle accused Burke of “vindictively clubbing people with canon law.” He said Burke “has sorely misused and abused the canonical process as a way to get even with people who disagree with him or whome he sees being in opposition to him.” tom-doyle.jpg

In June, in one of his last acts as Archbishop, Burke imposed the penalty of interdict on Sister Louise Lears, a   nun in the order of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, who worked at St. Cronan’s parish in St. Louis and attended the women’s ordinations last fall. The interdict prohibits Lears from receiving the sacraments and forced the parish to remove her from her ministry.

Barbara, a friend of mine who lives in Florida, sent me an email with a link to the Lears story.   “I suppose you heard about this,” it read. “If you didn’t, I thought I’d send it along. One would think the church would have learned something about the ineffectiveness of the counter-Reformation. Burning people at the stake and slapping interdicts on them, didn’t bring anyone back to the church. Someone should remind these guys that this is the 21st century.”

 

Follieri’s Follies

Posted by Censor Librorum on Jul 2, 2008 | Categories: Politics, Scandals

Raffaello Follieri, 29, chairman and chief executive of The Follieri Group, was charged last week in an 18-page complaint with persuading investors he had a special relationship with the Vatican and was able to purchase church properties at below-market prices. raf.jpg

For two years beginning in June 2005, the complaint alleges, Follieri “operated a fraudulent real estate investment scheme” by which he gained access to investors’ money by falsely representing his connections with high Vatican officials, including the pope.

Follieri used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, including a luxury apartment in Manhattan, expensive restaurants, clothes, dog walking services, and “flights on privately chartered planes to various locations around the world” for himself and his live-in girlfriend, actress Anne Hathaway.

According to the criminal complaint, Follieri went to great lengths to promote the idea that he was a trusted Vatican associate, traveling with two monseigneurs and keeping a cardinal’s  ceremonial garb  in his U.S. office in case one of them needed to change into something more impressive.

Writer Joe Feuerherd first reported on the activities of The Follieri Group in a cover story  for NCR on March 3, 2006. The entire article can be found here.

The Follieri Group saw a golden opportunity to acquire valuable  real estate from  dozens of dioceses and religious communities that needed to shed assets because of shifting demographics or sex abuse awards.

The Wall Street Journal covered the breakup between Follieri and his U.S. investors, including Los Angeles billionaire  Ronald Burckle,  a friend of  former president Bill Clinton and owner of the closely held Yucaipa Cos. The scheme unraveled with Burckle asked for an audit.

The Follieri Group had a simple business plan: exploit their connection to Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, to gain access to church officials in the U.S. They told investors their key relationships in the Vatican  would give them substantial advantages in obtaining properties owned by the Catholic Church in the United States. sodano.jpg

“Andrea Sodano, the cardinal’s nephew, is a Follieri Group vice president, a fact widely  known in U.S. church real estate circles,” Feuerherd wrote.

The federal prosecutors claim Andrea Sodano played a crucial role in Follieri’s scheme by accepting payment to arrange for him to meet with bishops, cardinals and other clergymen.

But our U.S. clergy had sharper noses then some sharp-toothed investors. The Follieri Group was stopped at the door. They only obtained a handful of properties, and never developed them as promised. The audiences with U.S. prelates  seem to have petered out.

The company made an awkward attempt at schmoozing at a National Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting, when their offer of placing fruit baskets in the hotel rooms of the 350 bishops was rebuffed. The company ended up handing out the baskets near the conference registration desk.

“This group has tried persistently to be part of the conference and was not permitted,” said Sister Mary Walsh, a spokesperson. “They’re not a church organization.”

Raffaello Follieri’s last hurrah was  a 2008  Easter  announcement of the advent of  an internet-based newspaper, Catholic Decisions. This publication was going to be “an independent voice for diverse Catholic communities,” and focus on “religious, political and social justice issues as they related to the Catholic Church.” He also promised, as a Catholic publication, “we will be found to fidelity to the Catholic message as it comes to us through the Church.”

The Federal complaint mentioned a “pitch book to start up a  new media company called Follieri Media.” The pitch book had been distributed to several potential investors. The  presentation claimed that Follieri Media had a “unique relationship with the Catholic Church,” and it planned to acquire such assets as National Catholic Reporter, Legionnairies Radio and EWTN. NCR publisher Sr. Rita Larivee, said, “We never heard anything from the Follieri Group.”