Pope resignation timing explanation: Thank you, Rhode Island judge. Papal papers unsealed friday. [View all]

[lindysalsagal]

Juries: This falls under current events. There's no church bashing in here, only released documents. It explains the unprecedented papal resignation timing. This is major world news affecting millions of people world-wide.
Source: Wall St. Journal

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Documents released Friday shed light on the inner workings of a secretive and now-disgraced Roman Catholic order called the Legion of Christ, including new details on how the organization solicited money from an elderly widow, eventually persuading her to bequeath it $60 million.

The documents, previously sealed in a lawsuit brought before Superior Court in Rhode Island, include thousands of pages of testimony from high-ranking leaders at the Legion, its members and relatives of wealthy widow Gabrielle Mee. They are the first-ever depositions of high-ranking Legion officials and include how the order's former second-in-command learned in 2006 that its founder had fathered a child.
-snip-

A Rhode Island Superior Court judge said last year that the documents raised a red flag because Mee, a steadfastly spiritual elderly woman, transferred millions to "clandestinely dubious religious leaders." But they had been kept under seal until The Associated Press, The New York Times, the National Catholic Reporter and The Providence Journal intervened, arguing that they were in the public interest. The Legion had argued media coverage of the documents could taint prospective jurors if there was a trial.

The Legion scandal is significant because it shows how the Holy See willfully ignored credible allegations of abuse against Maciel for decades while holding him up as a model of sainthood for the faithful because he brought in money and vocations to the priesthood. The scandal, which has tarnished the legacy of Pope John Paul II, is cited as an especially egregious example of how the Vatican ignored decades of reports about sexually abusive priests because church leaders put the interests of the institution above those of the victims.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/APe7fcd05a02314769aa1cc0021e2eb645.html

My opinion:

The only reason this is being released is that a niece of the bilked woman (30-60 million dollars) is suing, claiming that the bank was too close to the fund raising Papal group ("Legion of Christ&quot , and used their inside knowledge to defraud the woman. The niece claims that the donor was a truly devout woman, and wouldn't have given over her fortune had the papacy let the truth of the pedophilia and priestly paternity of illegitimate (not my person opinion) boys.
More details of the released reports will be available next week at The National Catholic Reporter. ncronline.org

Initially, it takes one very small, specific legal maneuver to reveal hidden documents. However, once opened,they will lead to an avalanche of Papal impropriety, financial, and otherwise.

Bottom line: Pope John Paul knew all about Marcial, and so did Ratzinger, and that's why Rats is moving to his cloistered nunnery: The information released friday might possibly land him in jail. Aside from the sexual scandals, this is fraud. Fraud at the top.

Another question then rises: What does the next pope do about it all, now that the job description turns out to be personally dangerous? Who takes on this mess, and who is willing to expose the church to all of this disgrace?

More:
The donor of $60 mill was housed in their facility and they kept her from visiting her sister as she was dying.

They had total control of this woman. That's why the records were unsealed. They used their coercion to get her money.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ri-records-of-disgraced-catholic-order-legion-of-christ-detail-dubious-fundraising-practices/2013/02/15/cbe3ccf4-77d8-11e2-b102-948929030e64_story_1.html

More: This link explains the entire story, and the papal connections to the Legion of Christ

Marcial was running his own harem of young victims who helped him raise money, that the vatican was all too happy to spend. It was this money that made the vatican cover up the abuse. Ratz and John Paul knew what was going on, but liked the money too much to stop it.

Ratzinger has no choice but to cloister himself inside the vatican, away from everyone: Reporters, church leadership, lawyers, police. He's toast, now.

http://americablog.com/2013/02/did-the-pope-resign-to-avoid-facing-a-major-about-to-break-scandal.html