As I understand it, the Timothy J. Mee Charitable Trust was established by Ms. Mee's late husband who died in 1985. After Mr. Mee's death, Mrs. Mee allowed the trust to make substantial yearly contributions to the North America order of the Legion of Christ. In 2008, just days before Mrs. Mee's death, catholic priest and co-trustee Anthony Bannon requested the other co-trustee (a bank) to acquiesce to a $400,000 transfer to the order.
As for other transfers, in 2006, Mrs. Mee used her own funds to make a $1,210,000 donation to the order. In 2007 she made a $590,000 donation to the order.
In 2005, the order's long-time head, catholic priest Marcial Maciel Degollado, resigned. The resignation occurred days after then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger commented that "filth" would be cleared from the church. Shortly thereafter, an investigation of Degollado was opened (or perhaps more accurately stated, "an old investigation of him was reopened"
. In 2006, the Vatican publicly disciplined Degollado, and he died in 2008. In 2010, the Vatican seized control of the Legion of Christ.
The niece who brought the present Rhode Island lawsuit is Mary Lou Dauray, a niece of Mrs. Mee.
From what I have read, there are two aspects of the case which might make it difficult for Ms. Dauray to recover the $60 million. First, the Rhode Island court has ruled that Ms. Dauray lacks legal standing to pursue the case. Second, there are other relatives of Mrs. Mee who have allegedly stated that, during her final years in the convent, Ms. Mee was not sequestered from her relatives who reportedly visited her and spoke with her on a somewhat regular basis.
At any rate, it will be interesting to learn from the unsealed depositions if the Vatican knew, at the time Degollado was courting Mrs. Mee's money, that he had a history of engaging in indiscretions and perpetrating abuse.
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