USCCB Handed HUGE LOSS by Supreme Court in Peter Pence Lawsuit

The Supreme Court allowed a case to proceed which claims the US bishops misled Catholics into believing millions of dollars in donations to the papal charity would be used to help the poor.

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a petition from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) allowing a lawsuit to move forward that alleges the bishops misled Catholics into believing their millions of dollars in donations to the papal charity, Peter’s Pence, would be used to help the poor.

The suit was filed in January 2020 in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island on behalf of David O’Connell, a parishioner at Sacred Heart Church in East Providence. It claims the American bishops “actively” misled Catholics into believing their millions of dollars in donations to the collection would be used to help “victims of war, oppression, natural disaster, or disease,” when in fact much of the money was funneled into private investments, such as Hollywood’s sexually explicit Elton John biopic Rocketman, “luxury condominium developments,” and “hefty, multi-million dollar commissions” to fund managers.

O’Connell sued the USCCB, seeking discovery into the donors to, uses of, and internal deliberations about Peter’s Pence. He also requested a refund for himself and sought to initiate a class action suit on behalf of millions of donors nationwide.

“USCCB must come clean and give back the money it took from well-intentioned people who thought they were giving urgently-needed funds to help the destitute around the world,” said lead attorney Marc Stanley in 2020, when the lawsuit was launched.

“It’s regrettable and tragic that such a trusted and well-respected organization has been taking advantage of the generosity of Catholic donors.”

The complaint cited a December 2019 Wall Street Journal report stating that for “at least the past five years, only about 10 percent of the money collected – more than €50 million was raised in 2018 – has gone to the sort of charitable causes featured in advertising for the collection.”

When the bishops moved to dismiss under the Religion Clauses’ church autonomy doctrine, both the district court and the D.C. Circuit refused.

In their petition to the Supreme Court, attorneys for the USCCB argued that “the state interference required to adjudicate this lawsuit – which involves demands for lists of papal donors, accounting for the Pope’s use of Peter’s Pence, and disclosure of the bishops’ internal communications with the Holy See about Peter’s Pence – would violate the church autonomy doctrine.”

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