A RICO PROSECUTION OF THE CHURCH?

I am going to propose again what may be unthinkable to many:   a RICO prosecution of the Catholic Church, specifically among the members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), is not beyond the realm of possibility.

Let me offer the description which has been the basis for RICO prosecutions of ethnic crime families, crooked unions, as well as a host of organizations which have consistently violated the law and sought to obstruct justice.

A typical scenario includes the following elements:  

(1) a large, wealthy, politically influential organization hierarchically controlled;
(2) the organization operates according to its own laws and precepts;
(3) succession among the leadership is tightly controlled by a supreme authority;
(4) a strict tradition of secrecy, if violated, has the most dire of consequences; and 
(5) a complex network of co-opted political, law enforcement and judicial professionals resists
judicial investigation and prosecution whenever possible.

The leaders of these organizations pledge themselves always to be guided by this one principle:  to always act “for the good" of the organization.  

Nothing else, no one else matters.

I realize that such a comparison between the Church and, let’s say, La Cosa Nostra might shock some. 

Others might object that there is a fundamental and critical difference between the two institutions.  

Organized crime families are in the business of crime.  The Church’s business has nothing to do with criminal enterprise, even though elements of it have been accessories to it on numerous occasions over the years.

Legally, however, the difference is not relevant under RICO law.  

For example, unions are not primarily in the business of crime.  Yet RICO prosecutions have been successful because unions and other legitimate businesses have been co-opted by criminal elements.


For the first time ever, a State Attorney General convened a Grand Jury to investigate and report on cases of criminal sexual abuse of minors in Pennsylvania.  

In the Grand Jury’s report, evidence indicates that hundreds of Priests used their positions of trust and power to sexually victimize over 1,000 children who suffered lifetimes of suffering and shame.

And all that is needed for the Church, or any organization, to face prosecution under RICO statutes is for that organization to have repeatedly been used to perpetrate and cover up criminal activity, including but not limited to obstruction of justice.

It is common knowledge that, for years, Bishops and their delegates enjoyed the deference shown them by police officials in not reporting Priests who broke the law, promising that the Priest would be reprimanded and punished “in the Church’s own way”.

That same promise was made to the local press not to publish and to local prosecutors not to charge Priests who committed crimes.  Victims were also pressured or extorted to maintain confidentiality agreements in exchange for quiet and quick settlements to compensate them for their sufferings.

In 2002, local prosecutors in three States filed RICO suits against the Church in sex abuse cases.  None reached the trial stage. 

Of course, local elected officials were reluctant to brand the Catholic Church as a “criminal enterprise” back then.  

But, with the ongoing scandals that continue to plague the Church, that sentiment is starting to turn.

The Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, I continue to predict, will be a watershed moment in the way the Church is investigated and prosecuted for crimes involving the sexual abuse of minors.

I believe that a Federal RICO prosecution of the Church is imminent, because the scandal of abuse and cover up is of national proportion.  

In the days ahead, I fully expect that a United States Attorney will hold a news conference announcing such a wide-sweeping investigation of the Church in America.

And why?

Because Bishops and their delegates chose to adopt a strategy of using whatever legal as well as surreptitious means available to them to but conceal the truth and avoid the consequences of their nefarious deeds.

The anger of Catholics and non-Catholics alike over the suffering of so many innocent youngsters is palpable.

The moment may have arrived when a RICO prosecution of the Church is no longer beyond the realm of thought or action.