Whose Dirty Laundry Will McElroy Be Tasked To Cover-Up Next? by Gene Thomas Gomulka

In 2003, the year after the Spotlight Team of The Boston Globe exposed Cardinal Bernard Law for covering up the serial rape of children by Catholic priests in Boston, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin was tapped by the Vatican to succeed Cardinal Desmond Connell who was heavily criticized by the Irish media for covering up sex abuse in Dublin. Martin, who spent most of his clerical life outside of Ireland working as a Vatican diplomat, returned to the “other Holy Land” where thousands of children were raped and molested by priests or physically abused in church-run schools for decades while bishops worked to protect the predators and the Irish church’s reputation.

What the Vatican did not anticipate, however, was that Martin, deeply upset by the abuse stories he heard from victims and their families, turned over some 80,000 files to the Murphy Commission that revealed decades of abuse and cover-ups by his predecessors. Obviously, officials in the Vatican Secretariat of State and the Congregation for Bishops failed to inform Martin that his job was to cover up, and not to expose both clerical sex abuse and cover-ups by Irish bishops.  As a result of his transparency, Pope Francis, who himself was documented by French investigative journalist, Martin Boudot, to have covered up countless abuse cases in the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, never made Martin a cardinal.

Three U.S. cardinals are soon expected to retire, all of whom have been accused of covering up for both predator priests and priests reported for engaging in sexual misconduct. The cardinals, New York’s Timothy Dolan, Chicago’s Blase Cupich, and Washington, D.C.’s Wilton Gregory; in addition to being accused of failing to discipline predators and sexually active priests, are also accused of unjustly punishing whistleblower priests and seminarians who have reported predatory behavior, sexual misconduct, and episcopal cover-ups.

Both Dolan and Cupich worked at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, DC in the mid-1980s where they demonstrated their skill in observing the Church’s “Code of Silence,” unlike Dominican Father Thomas Doyle who addressed the abuse problem in his 1985 co-authored sex abuse report which resulted in him being shown the door of the Vatican Embassy. Gregory, who worked with ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in crafting the Dallas Charter which excluded bishops from accountability, refused to answer two questions posed by Father Michel Briese concerning: 1) Allegations that he was sexually active in Atlanta where he was given the name the “African Queen;” and 2) Monetary contributions he made to Wuerl totaling $5.8 million for “ministry activities.” Gregory’s silence is reminiscent of Francis’ refusal to respond to allegations voiced in 2015 and 2024 that he engaged in sex with Jesuit novices in Argentina.

To avoid making the mistake it did in Dublin, the Vatican needs to find someone with a record of cover-ups to succeed Dolan, Cupich, or Gregory. The candidate needs to have shown himself adept at covering up both clerical predation and sexual misconduct. One candidate who clearly meets these qualifications is San Diego Cardinal Robert W. McElroy.

Just like Cardinal Donald Wuerl was sent to cover up for McCarrick and like Gregory was sent to cover up for Wuerl, so too was McElroy sent to San Diego to cover up for numerous sexual predators whose behavior contributed to the diocese filing for bankruptcy on June 17, 2024. The diocese first filed for bankruptcy in 2007, ultimately reaching a $198 million settlement of 144 sex abuse lawsuits. On January 1, 2023, when California expanded its statute of limitations for sexual assault claims, it resulted in the filing of 457 new claims. If the diocese were to pay out the same amount to each of the 457 victims as it did to the 144 victims in the past, the projected cost would be $628.4 million. This amount is still less than the $1.6 – $3 billion the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is projected to pay to settle around 3,000 sex abuse claims.

Most San Diego Catholics were unaware of the abuse that their bishops had been covering up for decades.  Few would recognize the name of Marine Corps veteran, Mark Brooks who, while enrolled at St. Francis Seminary in San Diego, reported being drugged and sodomized by Father “Nic” Reveles who later left the priesthood to pursue an open gay lifestyle. Brooks also reported catching Reveles and San Francisco Archbishop John R. Quinn watching gay porn together. When Reveles was a college seminarian from 1966 to 1970, Quinn befriended him while they lived together at St. Francis Seminary when Quinn was the auxiliary bishop of San Diego from 1967 to 1971. Brooks, like many abuse victims, died prematurely in 2010 at the age of 56; Quinn met his maker in 2017 at the age of 88 with McElroy presiding at his vigil and Cupich performing the final commendation at his funeral Mass; and Reveles outlived them both, dying in 2023 at the age of 74.

McElroy began covering up for abusive priests as soon as he was installed as the Bishop of San Diego. Rachel Mastrogiacomo reported being satanically sexually abused by Father Jacob Bertrand to San Diego diocesan officials in 2014. Although Bertrand was removed from ministry in November 2014, he was allowed to return to ministry when McElroy assumed office on April 15, 2015. When Mastrogiacomo learned that McElroy returned Bertrand to ministry and that his dark deeds were being covered up, she filed a criminal complaint against Bertrand in Minnesota where it is illegal for clergy to engage in sexual acts with adults in certain pastoral contexts. Even though McElroy’s lawyers refused to cooperate with prosecutors, Bertrand pleaded guilty and was sentenced to ten years’ probation. Mastrogiacomo believes that had she not appealed to the criminal court and exposed Betrand’s felonious behavior and McElroy’s cover-up, Bertrand might still be in ministry today and preying on other vulnerable virgins.

Washington priests like Fathers Adam Park and Carter Griffin who have been accused of preying on seminarians, and Monsignor Walter Rossi who was accused of homosexual misconduct, would very much welcome McElroy as the new Archbishop of Washington with the belief that he would cover for them as Gregory, Wuerl, and McCarrick covered for them in the past. New York priests like Monsignor John Paddack, Monsignor Thomas Derivan, Father Donald Timone, Father George Sears, and others who remain in ministry despite being accused of abuse or being named in sex abuse lawsuits, may prefer that McElroy follow Timothy Dolan as the Archbishop of New York. Cardinal Blase Cupich, who serves on the Dicastery for Bishops that oversees episcopal appointments, might prefer that McElroy succeed him in Chicago to ensure that his abuse cover-ups remain covered up. In 2018, Cupich identified 150 substantiated child sex abusers in the Archdiocese of Chicago.  However, in 2019, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office found an additional 125, almost twice the number reported by Cupich.

Because Pope Francis has failed to laicize or excommunicate over 150 bishops credibly accused of abusing minors or vulnerable adults, it is doubtful that he will fill the prestigious sees of New York, Washington, and Chicago with a prelate like Diarmuid Martin who asked the two auxiliary bishops in Dublin to submit their resignations as soon as he discovered they were involved in the abuse cover-ups along with his predecessor, Cardinal Desmond Connell.  Having covered up for predator priests like Jacob Bertrand and others that will cost San Diego Catholics over $600 million, Cardinal McElroy has proven himself to be a worthy candidate to fill any of the upcoming vacancies in New York, Washington, or Chicago.

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