'Lost trust,' anger and frustration grows over New Orleans Saints, archdiocese emails

    NEW ORLEANS (WDSU) -- Anger and frustration continue to explode one day after new emails appear to show how the New Orleans Saints helped with damage control in the clergy sex abuse crisis.

WDSU Investigates went through 700 pages of records we uncovered.

"It seems Archbishop Aymond has lost a lot of trust,” said James Adams, a former chair of a committee of abuse survivors in the church’s bankruptcy case.

Adams says it is his understanding that the emails were not under seal and not confidential.

WDSU went through the emails that date back to July 2018.

According to the emails, Greg Bensel with the New Orleans Saints emailed Gayle Benson about a news article involving George Brignac, a deacon who was set to face trial for child rape charges.

"The issues that the Archbishop has to deal with that never involve him,” Bensel writes.

An email signed by Benson reads, "Archbishop is very upset, he told me last week...a mess"

In September 2018, Bensel wrote in an email, "Was on the Benson's boat in Florida with him and… he was very troubled."

"The archbishop was resting on the Benson's boat down in Florida Boat with Mr. Bensel during this difficult time when he was considering releasing the names of credibly accused child rapists,” Adams said. “I keep asking the question to myself why it is difficult to release of credible child rapists. Why is that such a hard decision for Aymond it was a difficult decision. The Saints seem to be focused on helping him manage that difficult decision.”

That year, the diocese publicly released the names of credibly accused clergy members linked to sex abuse.

An email shows Saints President Dennis Lauscha wrote to Bensel in 2018, "Had a cc w Leon Cannizzaro last night that allowed us to take certain people off the list."

Last week, Leon Cannizzaro, the district attorney at the time, denied any role in shaping the credibly accused clergy list, echoing statements he made in 2020. He told the Associated Press that he “absolutely had no involvement in removing any names from any list.” Cannizzaro said he did not know why the Saints’ spokesman would have reported he had been on a call related to the list.

On Tuesday, Archbishop Gregory Aymond issued the following statement:

"The interest and speculation around the contributions of the Saints to our release of the list of those removed from ministry for allegations of abuse of a minor continue to surprise me. As we have stated many times over the years, no one from the Saints organization or the New Orleans District Attorney’s Office had any role in the creation and publication of the archdiocese’s list or had any role in removing or adding anyone to the list. The list was given to the District Attorney the morning it was released publicly and was shared with a representative of the Saints assisting with media relations that morning as well. Again, the storytelling and assumptions being drawn are truly surprising and inaccurate."

"What is not there is any sense of compassion or concern for those victimized,” Adams said.

An email from 2019 shows a plan to write a public letter from Benson.

A Saints attorney wrote to Bensel, “I have to chime in that I don't really like it. It doesn't sound like Mrs. Benson. Too full of stats, etc. I don't want her to appear to be a puppet for the Archdiocese because we have way too many constituents from all walks of life.”

“It speaks to the genuine lack of concern for victims. Aymond's words do not match his actions,” Adams said.

The archdiocese said no one was available to speak on camera for this story.

In a lengthy statement, the Saints criticized the media for using “leaked emails for the purpose of misconstruing a well-intended effort.”

“No member of the Saints organization condones or wants to cover up the abuse that occurred in the Archdiocese of New Orleans,” the team said. “That abuse occurred is a terrible fact.”