‘tumultuous, To Say The Least’ Week For New Orleans Archbishop Amid Multiple Scandals

Archbishop’s moves to give himself more power over food bank amid latest storm to envelope his church leaves board member asking: ‘Why are we here?’

By New Orleans’ Catholic archbishop Gregory Aymond’s own admission, the past week has been “tumultuous, to say the least” – for him and the city’s bankrupt church, which became engulfed in twin controversies involving emails with leaders of two pro sports franchises as well as a feud with ousted directors of an affiliated food bank.

Aymond on 30 January set off a firestorm by firing the longtime chief executive officer and top governing board members at the Second Harvest of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana food bank. The ousted food bank leaders said they were removed because they refused to bow to “pressure placed on Second Harvest to contribute as much as $16m toward helping to resolve victims’ claims” of child molestation by clergy which are at the center of a pending federal bankruptcy protection case that the church filed in 2020.