An NFL team helped priests accused of pedophilia within the Roman Catholic Church protect their image, according to attorneys for clergy sexual abuse victims.
The New Orleans Saints had worked with the Catholic Church in the past to rebuild the public image of the church. The Saints, which are owned by devout Catholic Gayle Benson, had a partnership with the New Orleans archdiocese while it was managing the church’s sexual abuse crisis, but claimed that the team’s assistance with public relations related to the abuse scandal was “minimal.”
Benson, who also owns the city’s NBA team, became the owner after her husband, Tom Benson, died in 2018. The team’s website acknowledges that Benson has “worked tirelessly” for the church’s philanthropic endeavors. In 2012, the Bensons received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice award for outstanding service to the Catholic Church from Pope Benedict XVI, which is the highest papal award granted to a layperson.
Lawyers for the victims, however, argued that the team’s work with the church went “beyond public relations.” The attorneys alleged that the Saints actively worked to keep some priests accused of sexual abuse off a list of known pedophiles. In a court filing, the lawyers wrote, “The Saints appear to have had a hand in determining which names should or should not have been included on the pedophile list.”
They added, “In order to fulfill this role … the Saints must have known the specific allegations of sexual abuse against a priest … and made a judgment call about whether those allegations by a particular victim against a named priest were, in its opinion, legitimate enough to warrant being included on the pedophile list.”
As part of the church’s attempt to deal with the sexual abuse scandal, the New Orleans archdiocese created a list of 57 credibly accused priests, which was later expanded to 63. The Associated Press, however, found at least 20 more credibly accused priests who were not included on the list, including two who were charged and convicted of crimes.
Victims claim that this list, which the Saints allegedly helped create, is nowhere close to the true number of predatory priests. The victims argued that the team’s executives participated in a “pattern and practice of concealing [the church’s] crimes.”
Lawyers for the Saints claimed that the victim’s attorneys were misinterpreting emails that documented the church’s relationship with the team and overestimating the team’s involvement. The team said it doesn’t have “anything to hide” but has been fighting in court alongside the church to keep the emails from going public and being included as evidence in the trial. The team did say that they would support the emails being made public if the judge rules that they should be included as evidence.
The Saints told the Associated Press, “Never did the Saints organizations offer advice to conceal information. In fact, we advised that as new information relative to credible evidence about other clergy came to light, then those names should be released and given to the proper authorities.”
Kevin Bourgeois, a Saints season ticket holder who is also the leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said, “It’s inappropriate for a football team to involve itself in a sex abuse scandal. Their response was that they told the archbishop to be straightforward and open. And we believe that that’s completely not true.”
The New Orleans Saints, a team that formed in 1967, was named for the city’s ties to the Catholic Church. The team even consulted then-Archbishop Philip Hannan to approve the team’s name. He agreed enthusiastically and wrote a prayer for the team, which reads, “Our Heavenly Father, who has instructed us that the ‘saints by faith conquered kingdoms … and overcame lions,’ grant our Saints an increase of faith and strength so that they will not only overcome the Lions but also the Bears, the Rams, the Giants, and even those awesome people in Green Bay … .”
Battling the sexual abuse charges against the church while dishing out settlements to victims has cost the church billions of dollars, and billions in additional claims could still come forward. The church spent $11 million on lobbying alone to try to prevent legislation in states that would expand the time people are allowed to file their accusations.
