Louisiana Voice

Why are there 39 separate bankruptcy cases filed by Catholic dioceses and archdioceses across the U.S.?

The obvious answer is that there are 39 separate Catholic dioceses and archdioceses involved in litigation involving accusations of sexual abuse of children. (The New Orleans Archdiocese is even under investigation for child sex trafficking.)

Given the obvious fact that sexual abuse claims in the Roman Catholic Church are so widespread, why then hasn’t some effort been made to consolidate all 39 defendants into one gigantic landmark lawsuit?

And if 24 of these cases have already been concluded (leaving 15, including New Orleans, still open and scores of lawyers still being paid), why couldn’t they all have been settled under the larger umbrella of the entire Roman Catholic organization with the defense streamlined with the same attorneys and experts to cut costs?

After all, the church is the church is the church, is it not?

Well, that’s an over-simplification so, not exactly. You see, just as New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond initially informed area Catholic churches, schools and other ministries that they would not be subject to any legal exposure only to later reverse himself and inform the apostolates that they would, after all, be required to chip in significantly to any settlement, so, too, is the Catholic Church structured worldwide in such a way that each archdiocese is considered to be a separate entity unto itself.

Bankruptcy is intended to serve as a shield, not a sword, according to PNC BANK N.A. v WILSON, a 2017 case decided by an Illinois court. The Yost Legal Group of Baltimore, Maryland., says on its Web page, “…[C]ourts are very clear that bankruptcy is a shield, not a sword.” This is discussed in greater detail by Linda E. Coco of the BARRY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW in Orlando, Florida.

A one-time attorney who no longer practices said he sees the New Orleans Archdiocese bankruptcy filing as something of “a deliberate preplanned litigation strategy,” a “master plan” by the church to defend clergy abuse cases in the U.S. on a nationwide basis.

“The Vatican enjoys sovereign immunity, according to a December 2021 decision by the European Court of Human Rights” in Strasbourg, France, he said. “However, the United States is not a signatory to the Human Rights Treaty because only members of the Council of Europe are eligible to be a party to the treaty. The U.S. is merely an observer state to the council.

In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in JOHN DOE v HOLY SEE that the Vatican could not invoke the provisions of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to seek dismissal of a sexual abuse claim involving a pedophile priest.

The New Orleans Archdiocese alone owns property (directly or indirectly) valued at more than $2.1 billion and the other 38 dioceses and archdioceses, along with the Vatican itself, have holdings of inestimable value and every effort is being expended to protect those assets at the expense of more than 500 claimants just in the New Orleans case. And the best way to protect the Vatican itself from exposure is to insist that each diocese and archdiocese is an island unto itself and not its brother’s keeper.

And does anyone believe for one moment that the Catholic Church, with its worldwide operations and its headquarters in Rome, will be amenable to conforming to the whims of the Eastern District Bankruptcy Court’s appointed “restructuring” experts?

Or is it beyond the realm to wonder if the appointment of restructuring experts might be an indication of some hidden agenda by individuals whose personal interests may be at loggerheads with the Catholic laity and those who wish to see justice for the victims and punishment of the wrongdoers?

That is precisely why the former attorney alluded to earlier believes that the New Orleans Archdiocese bankruptcy case “should be disqualified on grounds of fraud, CORPORATE VEIL PIERCING and ALTER EGO STATUS or to compel what bankruptcy law calls SUBSTANTIVE CONSOLIDATION.”

Piercing the corporate veil is a legal term that gives a court the power to hold an entity’s shareholders or directors personally liable for the organization’s debts or actions. This means that the organization loses the limited liability protection and that their personal assets can be used to pay off obligations.

Alter ego is a legal doctrine whereby the court may find that an organization lacks a separate identity from an individual or principal. The court applies this rule to ignore the corporate status of a group of stockholders, officers, and directors of a corporation with respect to their limited liability. In this case, it would be the church hierarchy instead of a corporate board.

Substantive consolidation is a bankruptcy procedure that allows a court to combine the assets and liabilities of multiple entities into one. This is done to treat the entities as if they were a single entity, and to make distributions to creditors under a plan of reorganization or liquidation. This would appear to be what the Catholic Church most wants to avoid because of the potentially far-reaching repercussions.

NEXT UP: Think Catholic priests have the market cornered on child abuse? Think again. The Southern Baptist Convention has its own skeletons it would very much like to keep closeted and the Mormons are not exactly lily-pure.

Well, I’m back at the ol’ keyboard after four unscheduled days in residence in the hospital after my potassium levels went off the charts but the good folks at Ochsner got everything back to normal and I’m now home and feeling fine.

I just want to remind you that LouisianaVoice is in its October fund drive and your support is vital to our continuing to bring you stories about political corruption, chicanery and miscreant behavior. LouisianaVoice has broken several exclusive stories in our nearly 14 years of existence, the oldest continuous political blog in Louisiana.

Remember how LouisianaVoice predicted (accurately) that the legislative committee investigation of the Ronald Greene killing by Louisiana State Police would fizzle out? Or how state employees got “teagued” in the Jindal administration if they dared voice a dissenting opinion and how we predicted a rerun of the Jindal years (only worse) with Jeff Landry? And then there were our stories about beatings and deaths in private prisons and how judges in Monroe and even Jeff Landry, when he was attorney general, sued people because they had the nerve to request public records? Ever wonder what certain public officials might be hiding? Like the details behind the state’s purchase of a hotel in Monroe or the manner in which Jindal attempted to railroad Murphy Painter only to end up having to pay Painter’s attorneys?

That’s what we do every day at LouisianaVoice.

We have a limited budget because (a) we don’t charge a subscription fee or accept advertising and (b) we hold only two fundraisers per year – October and April. We ask only that you contribute what you feel you can afford although this month we are running a special promotion. The one who makes the most generous contributon will get an original copy of Huey Long’s autobiography Every Man A King, published by the now-defunct National Book Co. of New Orleans.

And a lottery drawing will be held for everyone contributing $100 or more with the winner getting a copy of Leo Honeycutt’s biography of Edwin Edwards. The book is signed by both the author and the late governor.

Finally, everyone contributing $50 or more will receive a signed copy of my newest book, The Mission. First published as an e-book six years ago, it’s partly science-fiction and political and is relevant to our current political climate in this country. I emphasize that it was first published six years ago, so the book’s ending is related in no way to recent events (that’s all I’m saying).

(You can view illustrations of the book covers by scrolling down to our Oct. 1 post.)

You may mail a check to Tom Aswell, 107 North College Street West, Denham Springs, Louisiana 70726 or you may pay by credit card by clicking on the yellow DONATE button to the right of this post.

As always, any support you can provide our efforts to bring you stories others ignore is greatly appreciated.

This past week I had occasion to catch Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC, which was unusual in itself. You see, I cut the cable some time back because I objected to the idea that I could not pick and choose which channels I wished to subscribe to, but the cable company could, and they charge far too much for the quality of TV programming.

But because I had an unscheduled stay in a Baton Rouge hospital and because I was bored, I turned the TV on and caught O’Donnell and what he said really resonated with me when I reflected on the state of our political representation.

O’Donnell was talking about how Liz Cheney passed the test of putting country over politics when she chose to swim against the current of today’s Republican Party. Put another way, she chose patriotism over party in leading the hearings about the January 6 insurrection – and let’s be honest about it: it was precisely that and not a peaceful tour of the Capitol. She knew that by co-chairing that committee, she was effectively ending her political career in the Republican Party. Yet, she chose country over party, principles over a certain career in politics.

But when O’Donnell started talking about passing the test of country over politics, it started me to mentally clicking off the names of all those who have failed that test so miserably and of those who have met – and passed – the test.

Mitt Romney, Adam Kinzinger, Dick Cheney, James Lankford (who is credited with negotiating a bipartisan border compromise that Trump and Mike Johnson killed) and a handful of other Republican members of the House and Senate have passed the test.

Sadly, most others have not. Mitch McConnell famously said during Obama’s first term of office that his goal was to make Obama a one-term president by blocking any of his programs. Period. Never mind the merits of any Obama proposal, he was against it on principle. Funny word, principle from a man who is devoid of same. Further evidence can be readily seen in the ham-handed manner in which he torpedoed not one, but two Supreme Court appointments by Obama.

Then there is Gym Jordan, who never saw a conspiracy he didn’t like.

But closer to home, we have our own charlatans in Congress who seem to know no depths to which they are not willing to stoop to hold on to their jobs, country be damned.

Where to start? Oh, where indeed?

I guess I’d have to start with Mike Johnson, the evangelical who long ago sold his soul in return for he House speakership. And to whom was his soul auctioned to? None other than the devil himself, one Donald Trump. Now entrenched in his seat of pseudo-power (we do know who the real power is, do we not?), its politics over country. Every. Single. Time.

John Kennedy. Oh, Lordy me, what better example could you hold up as a shining example of a political whore? He sells himself as some sort of caricature of Will Rogers when he can be better described as the love child of Droopy Dog and Foghorn Leghorn – but most certainly not one who would put country before party, or statesmanship before cheap grandstanding schtick.

And as for Clay Higgins, all I can say about him is he has no moral compass whatever. He just mouths off whatever pops out of that cavernously empty head of his. His utterances generally have no context or relevance to anything. And if anyone – anyone – knows of any legislation that he has introduced, please so advise. I’d love to know.

Steve Scalise is another one who fails the test. Whatever it takes for him to do or say in order to remain in office, to hold on to any vestige of power and prestige, he’s up for it. Check his voting record. It speaks for itself on the question of whether he comes down on the side of politics or country.

So, the next time you hear a member of Congress pontificate on some pending bill, ask yourself how their position squares up with what’s best for the country and why they feel that way. Then ask yourself what their motivation might be for those convictions.

Instead of liking or disliking the way they comb their hair or the slick answers they give in sound their bites, ask yourself if they pass the test.

As one of the oldest, uninterrupted political blogs in Louisiana (13 years and counting), you’re probably aware that we do not have a pay wall limiting our posts only to paid subscribers.

Told once by an influential lobbyist that I was not smart (no mystery there) for not having a paid subscription, I replied that I wanted my stories to be available to anyone who wishes to read them and that furthermore, my stories are rarely, if ever, copyrighted. That means anyone who wants to use what I write is free to do so.

Having said that, I do have expenses. That is why I hold two fundraisers each year for the past five years – in April and October.

This is October and LouisianaVoice is in its second day of that October fundraiser and I am humbly asking for whatever support you feel you are able to provide.

The goal is $7500, which computes to an annual operating budget of $15,000 to cover Internet subscription, gasoline, copies of official documents (courts and state agencies), litigation (when necessary to seek court rulings on public records) and, of course, the time I spend researching and writing fresh, informative stories that you won’t find elsewhere.

As revealed on Tuesday, an original copy of Huey Long’s autobiography, Every Man A King, will be awarded on November 1 to the individual making the largest contribution during our month-long drive. The book, being an original copy as published by the long-(no pun intended) defunct National Book Co. of New Orleans is worth an estimated $100.

Also to be awarded in a lottery drawing is a copy of Leo Honeycutt’s splendid biography of Edwin Edwards. The book is signed by the late four-term governor and the author. All who contribute $100 or more will be eligible to win the book.

Finally, a copy of my new book (actually first published more than a year ago as an e-book, but due out any day now as a physical book), The Mission, will go to everyone who contributes $50 or more (here’s hoping I run out of copies). I think you’ll find the plot twist surprising and more than a little of an eerie coincidence.

Make checks payable to me, Tom Aswell, because I mistakenly set the bank account up not in the name of LouisianaVoice, but my name. The mailing address is 107 North College Street West, Denham Springs, LA. 70726. Or you may pay by credit card by clicking on the oval yellow BUTTON to the right of this post and following the directions.

As always, I am deep appreciative for the support that you, the readers, have provided these 13-plus years.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Because of the graphic nature of the post below, it may not be appropriate for everyone. Readers are advised to exercise caution.

Several weeks ago, I solicitated information from victims of child sex abuse as residents of group homes for children or at the hands of religious leaders.

One response stood out as particularly egregious. His was a sordid story of sexual abuse by not a single priest in the Catholic church in the heart of Acadiana, but several priests in more than one church in the Lafayette area.

After reading the police report that he filed, some clarification was needed as to whether he was victim number one or was he number two?

Turns out he was victim number one. Victim two in that report was another kid who was about a year or so older than he.

The State Police report says he claimed that Father Gerardus Clement Smit began sexually assaulting him when he was an altar boy at St. Anne Catholic Church.”

That’s in Youngsville, in Lafayette Parish.

According to the police report, the complainant was ten or eleven when Smit, under the guise of “practice for Mass,” began touching the boy’s penis and testicles and inserting his finger into his anus. Again, quoting from the report, the boy said said that his abuse escalated over time to oral and anal sexual intercourse and that he cried during his assaults and experienced rectal pain and bleeding.

The State Police report continued, saying that Smit warned the boy to never tell anyone about his “practices” and further quoted the boy as saying that Smit sexually assaulted other altar boys as well and that he took two other altar boys to a camp off Interstate 10 in Acadia Parish,

So, instead of just two altar boys who were abused, there were several. Only two victims actually reported it. Two of the others committed suicide, the report noted.

He was then quoted as saying that he was taken to Acadia Parish where other priests sexually assaulted him by pulling his hair and “shooting fluids on my body and face” and that Smit continued his assaults for a couple of years until he was transferred “to a hospital to get treated in a facility for priests.” He said that he then pursued Smit “for decades” and that Smit attempted to pay him off with a $10,000 personal check “but it (the check) bounced.”

The trooper’s report alone would have been a difficult story to believe, but there was more, plenty more. There were letters from the Lafayette bishop to the Lake Charles bishop where Smit had transferred before yet another transfer took him to Wilmington, Delaware; a letter to Smit himself from a church official and stories about claims against Smit in the Wilmington newspaper.

And then there was another report from a time that Smit served as a soccer coach for an elementary school. The report said he came upon one of the boys on the team alone in the team’s dressing room and took the opportunity to molest the child who was dressed only in his briefs. Smit pushed the boy down, pulled his briefs off and inserted his finger in the boy’s anus. Smit then forced him to perform oral sex and ejaculated in the victim’s mouth, the report said.

An interrogatory outline submitted as part of a separate report on a canonical investigation was even more graphic and more horrifying than the State Police report. A court document, it described in lurid detail how not only Smit, but other priests as well who may have sexually abused dozens of young altar boys and even one girl at a summer camps near the towns of Estherwood and Mamou

“There were different priests who would go there (to the camp) and brought altar boy groups from other [church] parishes during the summer,” the report said. “There were approximately fifty to one hundred altar boys, both in Mamou and at the Estherwood locations.”

It began with boys being invited to the Youngsville church where Smit would organize games that involved having the boys remove their clothes and compete at push-ups and sit-ups while naked. After a few months, Smit would select two or three boys to take to the Estherwood camp where there were other priests who also brought young boys with them. One of the other priests was from Lake Arthur and two others were from Baton Rouge and yet another from Church Point. One of the priests also brought a young girl along whom the report said was molested for years by Smit who, the report said, may even have impregnated her.

The children slept in one large room. “During the night a different priest would give a talk, organize games and then proceed with molestation,” the report said. One victim, whose name was redacted from the report, said Smit would take groups of altar boys to churches in nearby LeBlanc and Milton, taking only those whom he could trust not to tell their parents about the molestations. He said Smit would take him into a room at the camp and if they objected, he would threaten to tell the boys’ parents.

Altar boys were “switched” to go swimming in the lake with priests where they were again molested, according to court records. The various participating priests would plan which altar boy would be paired with a priest. The priests told the children that they (the priests) were getting messages from God and that when they (the boys) grew up, they would understand. Two of the boys later committed suicide.

When confronted about the allegations by Delaware State Police, Smit’s attorney’s response was, “I thought the statute of limitations had run out on that.”

Finally, in 2002, some 40 years after the incidents described by the victim and State Police, Smit, living in retirement, was officially relieved of the right to act as a Catholic priest.

Nowhere among the 130 Louisiana priests identified by the church as abusers, however, was the name Gerardus Clement Smit.

UP NEXT: A look at how characterizing each archdiocese as a separate entity unto itself protects the Vatican from liability is considered by at least one authority to be a form of corporate fraud.

ON DECK: Think Catholic priests have the market cornered on child abuse? Think again. The Southern Baptist Convention has its own skeletons it would very much like to keep closeted and the Mormons are not exactly lily-pure.