TRANSCRIPT
With the steady flood of revelations about homopredation by the bishops and clergy and the ensuing cover-up, there is another enormous story that is almost entirely being ignored. That story is this: Why is the supposed "Church of the poor" secretly amassing tens, even hundreds, of billions of dollars?
When Jorge Bergoglio was elected pope almost nine years ago, the almost immediate posturing of the Vatican was the need for the Church to be humble, obedient, transparent, open to dialogue and poor.
But as Church Militant is quietly unearthing, the exact opposite is actually occurring. There appears to be an unprecedented money grab going on all over the Church, and it seems to be centered inside the Vatican itself, the very heart of the pretended "Church of the poor."
Through ongoing practices of setting up secretly owned international companies, failing to disclose them and cutting deals with other companies to shift billions of dollars around the world, the Vatican may actually be drowning in cash. These multiple and multinational schemes may sometimes be illegal, frequently unethical, more usually immoral and always questionable. The Vatican's status as its own country affords it ample opportunity to skirt international financial safeguards against corruption and largely go undetected, flying under the radar of accountability.
In the coming weeks, Church Militant will be releasing more specifics on this topic, but for the moment, we would like to narrow down the focus to similar practices among the U.S. bishops. While the Church in the United States is obviously not its own country, it does enjoy an astonishing level of immunity from financial scrutiny by government regulators and oversight.
If morally questionable shepherds were so inclined, great advantage could be taken of the near anonymity under which the Church operates in financial terms. First, as a nonprofit, the Church does not pay taxes. Second, its financial filings are not subject to public disclosure. Third, because of the long-established separation of Church and State in the United States, an atmosphere exists whereby courts and other government agencies are extremely reluctant to go sniffing around areas related to the Church's finances.
Going back to that beginning point about morally questionable men in miters, a so-called target-rich environment could exist for such men willing to engage in theft and the shifting around of hundreds of millions, even billions, of dollars. Offshore accounts, shell corporation holdings, money laundering schemes — you name it, the sky's the limit.
Mafia crime families, in fact, should consider starting their own religion — given the abilities afforded to engage in massive financial fraud — and still walk around with an air of respectability. And the same applies to multiple religious orders, which financially operate as small churches within the larger Church.
Men's and women's religious orders, but especially women's, have shrunk dramatically in recent decades — almost 80%, in fact, since 1965. Many of them had enormous wealth in buildings, property, investments and so forth. Much of the property had actual real-world use, like convents, schools, hospitals and so forth.
But as their numbers nosedived because of their lack of faithfulness, the properties became useless to them. They didn't have nuns or brothers to staff them. Therefore, the women began selling off vast amounts of real estate holdings, schools, convents and so forth. These holdings simply disappeared from the rolls of the religious orders.
Where did all that money go? Billions in assets in the wind. It certainly did not go back into the religious communities for anything related to the Faith. Likewise, what would massively shrinking orders of nuns actually need money for besides care for elderly health?
Since they have no future, they would have no call to invest in their future. Where is all the money? Even now, some religious houses have only a tiny number of nuns or brothers left alive inside their walls, much less any who are doing anything specifically active in the Faith that would rack up expenditures like back in the day.
When an order or community gets down to just a few remaining old folks, what happens to their financial holdings? They aren't living for free, so they must have assets. Who takes control? Who decides how to dispose of them? Where does the money go and who actually knows?
Obviously, someone knows, but again, once these sorts of things occur, the veil of Church secrecy drops, and the trail dries up. On occasion, there might be a few scant public records on the sale price of a former convent, for example, but after that money is absorbed into the Church, there's no real way to track it. Like the mob, bishops and dioceses can have a second set of books going, and no one is any the wiser.
But the difference between the mob and the bishops is that the mob can be investigated for financial crimes, while the bishops get to hide on the other side of that wall that separates Church and State.
The bottom line is that there is simply no way of knowing with any certainty if what your bishop is telling you about diocesan finances is actually a lie. And don't even bother trying to ask. Crooks don't generally fess up when questioned if there are zero consequences to lying; zero consequences in this life, that is. They can't get caught because there's nobody designated to actually catch them.
We know from the occasional secular media report that financial malfeasance occurs, but those reports usually spill out of an earlier report about homosexual sex abuse, like in the case of Michael Bransfield, former bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, who stole and spent money like a drunken sailor.
But such revelations are not frequent because they are nearly impossible to get at. Groups of bishops, for example, could easily establish their own religious nonprofit and funnel whatever they want into it. From that nonprofit, they could shift it anyplace they want — to other shell companies, to offshore accounts, to international markets and even to high interest-earning loans to enemy nations, to illegal arms deals, to sex trafficking of children. You just don't know.
That's the downside of refusing to be completely transparent — nothing may be true and everything could be true. It's one thing for the Church and the bishops to not want to be subject to the State, but toward the faithful? The basic reaction of the hierarchy is that the money is none of your business, you curious sheep. Now put on your masks while we close down your parishes.
But if you think about it, it all of a sudden becomes your business when they start asking you for it, simply taking it from parish checking accounts when they want to and consolidating parishes as a cover for what is little else than the next level of a giant money grab.
None of this activity — on a diocesan level or from the Vatican — speaks of a poor Church for the poor. In fact, it points to an international money laundering operation that is wholly unaccountable and that has local subsidiaries who have become experts at unethical monetary practices, all completely hidden by the cover of religion.
The questions to ask have to do with why, who and what. Why are tens, likely hundreds, of billions being amassed globally? Who in the Church is coordinating it? What is the money for?
What we do know is that it isn't being used to promote the Catholic faith.
The Mafia doesn’t need to start a religion historically the most prominent in the Mafia were “devout Catholics”
How can a poor Church help the poor? It doesn't make sense.
Because, in the First World at least, poverty is a cultural problem, not an economic one.
Let’s take one example. If we truly cared about and understood the poor we would campaign for routine capital punishment even for property crimes. The wealthy and middle class can largely insulate themselves and buy insurance. The less materially prosperous not so much. If stealing a car meant the gallows though then it would almost never happen. The “poor” would benefit both culturally and materially.
So, how does this answer my question? How can a poor church or a poor charity help the poor?Only those with money can help those without.
50 years ago when I was 18 years old, the 'Little Sisters of the Poor' were making a plea for dollars and change at our local Church. I was a close friend of one of the priests in the parish, he was about ten years older than me. He made the comment to me something to the effect of, "They've got a million dollars in their account."
This Vortex just triggered that memory.
Pas en Cristo.......JO
I think we'd all gladly go back to a time when we could trust that our donations were going toward the aid of the poor, widows and orphans, and to build the God's kingdom on earth. It's really hard to win back that trust, but they could if they wanted to.
They don't want to. Hubris does that to you.
There was a Bishop salivating for YEARS over the Carmelite Monastery real-estate next to the Cathedral property. When the Carmelites basically all died (because it was an old community with no vocations), he scarfed up that prime property. End of story.
Michael and CM, excellent and much needed reporting but please be careful.
When exposing the two gods of the modernists - sodomy & money - they will attack you with the hatred and vengeance of demons.
Just knowing the history of the Church over the past 50 or 60 years, it's pretty obvious that the Church is involved in some nefarious operational undertakings, which, as Michael mentioned, don't have anything to do with growing the Church. If it did, then parishes wouldn't be closing at such alarming rates. Despite the fact that the Church has not been totally investigated, which it should be, it manages to carry on it's day to day business. Since Mass attendance has dwindled so low, it makes one wonder, where are all these funds are coming from? While there may be some affluent parishioners who set up endowments for the Church, there can't be that many, that the Church is raking in billions! Aren't Dioceses taking in Federal funding for migrant care? How about the funds given to them while they were closed for three months, because of Covid? If they're receiving Fed or State funding, I should think the parishioners have a right to know just how much they've been given, & an audit should be conducted.
One small gripe with this report. Whenever you spoke about the orders of nuns collapsing and amassing huge pile of wealth, you showed pictures of obviously traditional nins who were wearing beautiful full habits! You should have been showing pictures of middle aged woman in two piece business suits, short permed hair, and some jewelery - and no sign at all of humble, holy obedience.
Agree. These days, I don't think I'd know a nun if I fell over one.
Agreed, a photo of The Polyester Pantsuit Mafia - the modernist nuns on the bus with their hair hacked off would be much more accurate
I guess for the present day bishops, there's a fortune to be made in the dying of Christendom. Just like robbing old people who are laying on their death bed, emptying their bank accounts and selling off their property even before they breathe their last, they cannot resist all that glistening wealth.
I cannot believe these men would add to the crimes they will have to account for in the next life, but it appears they will. If anything demonstrates their lack of belief, it would be the impunity with which they sin.
A member of a St Vincent dePaul Society conference once asked (after the Treasurer read the monthly report), "Why do we have monry in the bank?)"
Bergoglio poverty deception of the "Destroyer". Like the "Bishop's Faith Appeal" aka we take it off the top. The fact, my opinion, that he was sent by Christ, according to the Francis of Assisi assigned prophesy, is the prospective future most good Catholics are not willing to contemplate. One cannot believe in the Vulgate and do what they have and are doing. "Modern" is arbitrary and Jesus Christ is not. "Ev'rythin's up to date in Kansas City. How much more need happen to conclude the obvious, akums razor. 2 Thessalonians 2 is where their short lived success comes to an end. It's all about souls. These people are horrible. The Enabler's just keep on giving and who are they? Not me anymore! God does not change anything except degrees of punishment according to His word. "Et Verbum Caro Factum Est."
I would like to see a video on how we can support our parish without the 7% tax going to the Archdiocese. Is every dime that comes in taxed by the diocese? I am thinking specific collections like the seasonal utility bill collection or those for the food pantry. What about Mass stipends? I have never stopped supporting my parish, even when there were lay staff members whose salaries I did not fancy paying into. But that 7% really irks me.
i believe that the Christmas day donations are not taxable to the local archdiocese but all stay in the church.
Prayer and give your money to pro-life groups.
In my archdiocese, Chicago, the tax is 17%!
Do not support your parish through the collection basket. Send your donations to your parish's maintenance or "other" fund. The Online Giving program that "my" parish uses has several options other than the Sunday collection. P.S. volunteer.
I was told that in our archdiocese, the archdiocese even gets a cut of the "other" funds (building fund, for example).
According to my pastor, there's nothing he or you can do about it, unfortunately.
Of course, he would say that. However, not ALL donations are "taxed."
A bit off topic, but please pray for the happy repose of the soul of Mrs. Carole Duncan from Napa California. An early supporter of solid Catholic education, and I believe a supporter of church militant as well.
Rome is replete with some of the most forceful powerbrokers of the world.
Figures. The Roman Empire lasted 1000 years.
Someone has the gauntlet now. 🏛
The reason the "Empire" lasted so long is there was no WWW to make everything in their world happen at the speed of the flow of an electric current. We now are collapsing much sooner.
Yeah, isn't that the truth!
Now we've got 5 year-olds with cell phones?
We're cooked. 📱
A poignantly powerful reality...every parish church is not owned by the people of the parish but the diocese...to be sold as it wants and no monetary return to the people !!
A giant betrayal of the faith of our "fathers."
And a giant betrayal of Jesus Christ.
They'll close your beautiful church, sell it off to realtors for luxury condos and pocket the bequest you made to the parish.
Yes, after they've collected hundreds of thousands of dollars for "renovations."
I can't understand why the old convents and monasteries and schools cannot be turned into nice affordable housing for able-bodied practicing Catholics who simply do not want to live alone. I would think that with some semblance of community, there might be vocations arise from that. Certainly there could be stellar fellowship, pilgrimages and deepening of the faith in those individuals and the lives of those they touch. Have never understood that--- Seems like a win/win, to me.
The Church pushes for happy marriages...but there are no programs to speak of for single parents and over half of kids in America are raised by single moms and dads, who are truly reduced to 'parent' by virtue of being so overwhelmed and strung out from the constant responsibilities. I guess a bunch of gay guys running the show wouldn't get it, would they?
Because they can't run "for profit" businesses.
Excellent idea but they are not like you who actually would like to help people.
That's an excellent idea, but the powersthatbe wouldn't be raking in more and more bilions that way. After all, the love of money is the root of all evil.
And although, Pope Francis talks the talk, his greatest love seem like $$$$.
Another difference between the bishops and the mob…. The many mobsters believe in the reality of hell.
You described the elderly rich witches posing as nuns in my community perfectly. They are organized criminals who should have been shut down years ago. They dedicate all their time and money on "helping the migrants." Church of the poor? That's a laugh! Those ladies live like queens with their fleet of luxury cars and their imported wine.
Fr Benedict Groeschel said he saw
Franciscan nuns driving off in a limousine in the 1990's.
As to following St Francis of Assisi, patron of the poor his reply was regarding the nuns wheels, 'not exactly, not exactly'. ✝️
My 93-year old Benedictine friend was So Happy when Trump was defeated. She said, "I can sleep at night, now." Sad. Enneagram, Reiki, Yoga, Centering Prayer, Native American spirituality and the like, being taught continually at her facility. It's one thing to compare; it's another to teach a 'gospel' that is not of Jesus.
Yes, "Sister," old Nick will leave you alone now with your pagan practices, and let you sleep, because the presence of good leading the country upset him greatly, and you as well it seems. Now Nick will let you sleep...
Oh my! 93 should be ready to meet her Maker, not Lucifer!
Mother Angelica spoke out against this years ago and was hated for speaking the truth.
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