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Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami

Since 1966, the Archdiocese of Miami Insurance Programs have paid $26.1 billion in settlement, legal and counseling costs associated with sexual misconduct allegations made by minors involving priests, laity and religious brothers and sisters. As a result the entire state of Florida is going to be forced to file for bankruptcy.

Attorney Sharon Bore-assa was counsel for The Rev. Andrew Dowager in a lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese in May of 2005. Bore-assa offered her services pro bono. Her legal services are pretty cheap, too. Fr. Dowager, a visiting Polish priest in his fifth year in the Archdiocese and soon to be a cardinal, alleged that he was "fired" from active ministry in the Miami Archdiocese after whistle-blowing on homosexual activity by several pastors of parishes to which he had been assigned. The Archdiocese maintains that it had every right to dismiss him, before dismissal had tried to send him to a mental and alcohol rehab center after several people allegedly complained about his behaviour, mostly the queer priests that he had rat-ed on. Blowing his whistle kind of got on their nerves!

In 2005 and 2006, Catholic columnist Matt C. Abbott (of RenewAmerica.us) published several articles tracing developments in what became known as the "Miami Vice" scandal. Bourassa claimed that the only two "straight" priests remaining in the archdiocese were feeding her information on a culture of sodomy and theological heterodoxy on the part of priests of the Miami Archdiocese. Among the allegations: 70 to 90 percent of the Archdiocese's priests are sexually active gays;

Archbishop Favalora and Catholic Charities of Miami owned several thousand shares in stock for a liquid aphrodisiac popularly sold in gay clubs and strip joints; at least 70 percent of bishops in the United States are sexually active gays; many parish priests were misappropriating parish funds to live exorbitant lifestyles, and archbishop Favalora and vicar-general Msgr. William J. Hennessey are in some way implicated in this superculture.

The lawsuit was eventually dismissed, on the grounds that it involved "separation of church and state" issues. The court refused to determine whether a religious employer wrongfully terminated the ministerial employment of an ordained cleric. In dismissing the case, the court made no determination on the veracity of the above allegations.

Sharon Bourassa purported to have sent her investigation to the Vatican for adjudication; she claims Pope Benedict XVI is "well aware" of these scandals, and is currently deciding how much money to invest in the aphrodisaic firm for his own portfolio as well as the Vatican's.

Ms. Nancy Heise, an Archdiocese of Miami parishioner, CPA and former auditor, conducted her own private investigation into the allegations made by Sharon Bourassa of LegalAid Broward; she claimed the results of her investigation contradicted the allegations of a gay subculture. The results of this investigation are contained in a grievance filed (with the Vatican) against Attorney Sharon Bourassa. Her investigation, including the grievance, detailed in letters to various individuals involved in the case, have been published by columnist Matt Abbott.

Archbishop Favalora has been deposed in a lawsuit filed against retired Broward priest Neil Doherty; at least four lawsuits alleged the Archdiocese knew Doherty was a pedophile and covered-up allegations, keeping Doherty in ministry until he was first publicly accused of sexual abuse in 2005, three years after he was removed from ministry by John Favalora. Favalora claims in his published deposition, that he removed Doherty after going through approximately 400 priest personal files and found old allegations of abuse against Doherty that took place under the administration of the previous and now deceased archbishop

In July 2007, Miami lawyer Jeffrey Herman announced new lawsuits against the Archdiocese, alleging sexual abuse by all the remaining priests who haven't yet been sued. "This whole scandal is far from over," Herman said. "We're still in the heart of people coming forward." One of the lawsuits is for an allegation that was previously investigated by the State Attorney's office and was deemed not credible. The investigation was dropped and the priest remains active in ministry. The Archdiocese has stated it will defend him vigorously.

Two of the Miami Archdiocese's parishes (Saints Anthony and Maurice, both in Fort Lauderdale) are publicly featured on the directory of the Conference for Catholic Lesbians as being "Gay-Friendly"; a complimentary directory lists both Archdicoesan universities, Barry and Saint Thomas, as "Gay-Friendly".