“I’m sending it to the Pope’s home address, so he will get the message firsthand!” Cochran said, emphatically. “He needs to understand there’s a sense of urgency, in dealing with the thievery scandal in the Catholic Church in this country.” That’s a snippet from the news release issued September 5th when I mailed my new book to the Pope. See letter to Pope.
High Stakes Thievery
THIEVERY: Catholic Church EXPOSED! is a 175-page documentary revealing the huge financial scandal taking place today in the Catholic Church. By huge, I mean the current tally is estimated to be $1.26B annually! Yes, that’s a B for billion. And, that’s just in the United States. See book description.
It was Happenstance
I know you’re thinking “What are you doing now Cochran? I thought you were writing an historical fiction series about the Detroit Mafia.” I was and I am. It just happened that I was talking with interested readers who had stopped by my booth at an art festival (yes, writing is an art) about the Detroit mafia laundering money through the Catholic Church. One of the readers said, “You think that’s bad, check thievery in the Catholic Church today.” I made a note and couldn’t believe what I found when I did the research. See what I mean? It wasn’t on my agenda to write about this – – it was happenstance!
No Ethics?
The THIEVERY documentary is based upon 97 (non-sex abuse) cases of $100,000 or more I discovered in my investigation of embezzlement, fraud, and theft in the Catholic Church. I use actual news releases, legal cases, and newspaper stories in THIEVERY to illustrate embezzlement, fraud, scams and other types of financial mismanagement perpetrated by unethical priests and staff members. Worse yet, I found and detail how bishops covered up thousands of cases of financial misconduct. It’s as if no morality or ethics existed among many of those in charge.
Catholic Church’s Second Scandal
This is not an usher stealing twenty or thirty dollars from the collection plate or a secretary cheating on a deposit slip. It’s thousands of dollars being stolen through systematic scams, often carried out by long-term, trusted employees. The thievery scandal has gone essentially unaddressed because of the attention given the sex abuse scandal. “I understand why thievery has paled in the face of thousands of sex abuse cases, and rightfully so. But these priests were not the only ones engaged in deviant behavior, and sex abuse was not the Church’s only form of criminality; thousands of priests and staff members were embezzling and stealing, giving root to the thievery scandal.
Still Waiting to Hear from the Pope . . .
It’s imperative that Pope Francis understand the depth of this problem and takes mandated action. THIEVERY purposely points out why theft occurs and how to stop it. Let’s hope we hear from the Pope very soon.
Autographed copies of THIEVERY available on my website or order directly from Amazon or Barnes & Noble