In a bombshell revelation, internal emails have exposed the New Orleans Saints’ extensive behind-the-scenes efforts to manage the public relations fallout from the Catholic Church’s clergy sexual abuse crisis. As the Archdiocese of New Orleans prepared to release a list of priests accused of abuse, church leaders turned to an unlikely ally: the Saints’ front office.
The scandal, which has rocked the Catholic Church for decades, took a dramatic turn when the Saints stepped in to help craft a crisis-communications strategy. Hundreds of emails obtained by The Associated Press reveal that the team’s involvement was far more extensive than previously known, with top executives, including Saints President Dennis Lauscha, playing a key role in shaping the narrative.
The emails highlight the close relationship between the Saints’ devout Catholic owner, Gayle Benson, and New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond. Together, they worked to mitigate the media storm surrounding the release of the list, which named priests accused of abuse and triggered civil lawsuits, as well as federal and state investigations.
Key Revelations from the Emails:
- Saints executives were so deeply involved that a team spokesperson briefed his boss on a 2018 call with the city’s top prosecutor, just hours before the church released its list. The spokesperson revealed that the call allowed the church to “take certain people off” the list of accused priests.
- Saints officials were among the first to review the list, which included suspected pedophiles and sparked widespread outrage.
- Dennis Lauscha personally drafted a series of questions to prepare Archbishop Aymond for a media briefing on the crisis.
These explosive details shed new light on how the Saints became entangled in one of the most controversial scandals in the history of the Catholic Church in America. The team’s involvement raises serious questions about the intersection of sports, religion, and crisis management, as well as the ethical implications of a professional football organization aiding in the cover-up of such a sensitive issue.
This story is a must-read for anyone following the ongoing fallout from the Catholic Church abuse crisis and the unexpected role of one of the NFL’s most iconic teams. Stay tuned as more details emerge from this shocking revelation.