The year is nearly half gone, and it's time to announce our Ass Clown awardees for the new month of June. This time we turn away from the rich fishing grounds of politics and government to a new field of potential nominees as we announce
The Right-Cheek Ass Clown for June, 2019
today, we turn to the field of religion as we turn the spotlight on
Michael J. Bransfield,
Former Bishop of
Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia
Bishop Bransfield, the former leader of the Catholic Church in West Virginia, is charged with giving cash gifts totaling $350,000 to fellow clergymen, including young priests he is accused of mistreating and more than a dozen cardinals in the United States and at the Vatican. According to church records, Bransfield wrote checks from his personal account to cover the gifts for more than a decade, and the West Virginia diocese reimbursed him by increasing his pay to cover the expenses.
According to an investigation conducted last year, over a period of 13 years as bishop in West Virginia, Bransfield spent $2.4 million in church money on travel, much of it personal, which included flying in chartered jets and staying in luxury hotels. Bransfield and several subordinates spent an average of nearly $1,000 a month on alcohol, and had fresh flowers delivered daily to Bransfield's office when he was there at a cost of about $100 a day. After a fire damaged a bathroom in Bransfield's residence, the diocese renovated the entire structure at a cost of $4.6 million. All of this took place in West Virginia, one of the poorest states in the country.
You can read the whole sordid story here, including Bransfield's denial of the allegations.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, at a time when the Catholic Church is reeling from allegations of clergy sexual abuse and other misdeeds, and big-name evangelists become millionaires by fleecing their believers, Bishop Michael J. Bransfield's shameless looting of his poor diocese makes him a prime candidate for designation as the Right-Cheek Ass Clown for June, 2019.
Thoughts and prayers won't work for him, either.
Have a good day. Come back tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday ... more thoughts then.
Bilbo
3 comments:
The first time I read this last week, I was apolplectic with incredulity. Now I'm just apolplectic.
Catholics parishioners are their own worst enemy. They used to never challenge the church. At least some are doing it now.
Nice pick. I'd seen a headline but nothing more. The things people think they are justified to do...
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