The New Orleans Saints admitted on Friday that team executives gave advice to the Archdiocese of New Orleans on how to deal with the church’s sexual abuse scandal, but the team insists there was never any attempt to help with damage control.
The Saints said in a statement that they have “always had a very strong relationship with the Archdiocese.” The team admitted that Saints senior vice president of communications Greg Bensel was contacted by church representatives back in November of 2018 for input on how to work with the media, but the team says Bensel in no way helped counsel the Archdiocese on how to conceal allegations of sexual abuse against children.
“The advice was simple and never wavering,” a bolded portion of the Saints’ statement read. “Be direct, open and fully transparent, while making sure that all law enforcement agencies were alerted.”
The statement added that Bensel, Saints owner Gayle Benson and the team are “offended, disappointed and repulsed by the actions of certain past clergy.” The team also says it has no intention of concealing emails from the public but rather wants the court to “apply the normal rules of discovery to the documents that the Saints produced and delivered (in the case of Doe v. Archdiocese).”
According to court documents that were obtained by The Associated Press, attorneys representing around two dozen men who are suing the Archdiocese of New Orleans say they uncovered emails that show the Saints helped the Catholic church with its “pattern and practice of concealing its crimes.” The team insists any involvement it had was merely to advise the church on doing the right thing.
