sniffing the Vatican air

It's only $57 million dollars -- peanuts for the biggest corporation in the world -- but the question of

Cardinal Timothy Dolan

why then-archbishop and now-cardinal Timothy Dolan asked the Vatican if it would be OK to transfer cemetery funds to a trust fund lingers in the air.

Under the weight of dozens of claims of priest sexual abuse, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which Dolan ran, was preparing to file for bankruptcy when Dolan contacted the Vatican in 2007.

In his June 4, 2007, letter to the Vatican, Dolan said the cemetery fund money would still have to be used to care for cemeteries if placed in a trust. But, he added: "By transferring these assets to the Trust, I foresee an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability."
Church law requires bishops to seek Vatican approval for any property sale or asset transfer in the millions of dollars. The bankruptcy judge will ultimately decide whether any transfer amounts to fraud.

Dolan, who is currently the most powerful Roman Catholic in America and is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has denied any desire to shield the funds as the archdiocese declared itself destitute. Plaintiffs seeking reimbursement for the abuses they suffered with the collusion of hierarchy (and Vatican) see the financial maneuver as a fraud.

I am so glad there are younger, more energetic and determined, men and women who are willing to see this travesty through its bitter twists and turns. Malfeasance in spiritual life is so fucking exhausting, so demanding ... and yet not meeting those demands (which the Vatican might dearly like) is beyond cowardly.

Sometimes I feel like a coward when in fact I suspect I may simply be exhausted. I feel like a cop-out cheering for those who have taken up cudgels, but it's about all I've got these days when it comes to Vatican or other spiritual corruptions.

What a bunch of vain, vile assholes!