Much to the frustration of the U.S. bishops (not to mention the Vatican), Church Militant routinely shines a spotlight on the filth in the Church, meaning, largely, the hierarchy. But even for us, there are degrees of shock and disgust. Very near the top of that sordid list is the following story, which Church Militant has vetted completely.
This Saturday, Bp. Robert McElroy of San Diego will be one of 20 new cardinals created by Pope Francis. However, along the way to the College of Cardinals, McElroy covered up for one of his priests, who desecrated the Blessed Sacrament, which was part of a satanic ritual in preparation for a black mass. And soon-to-be-cardinal McElroy knew every bit of this.
Christine Niles has the entire story in a Special Report that will be airing tonight. Some of this is simply too disturbing to get into the details, and we don't want to put any pictures in people's imaginations that don't need to be there. What we will say is that the priest involved, Fr. Jacob Bertrand, desecrated the Blessed Sacrament in an aggressive sexual situation with Rachel, whom he had groomed for some time, stretching back to his days at the prestigious North American College in Rome (the NAC).
A black mass normally involves a mockery of the Holy Sacrifice, frequently accompanied by a desecration of the Blessed Sacrament, but also — and this is key — whenever possible, the abuse of a virgin. Normally, such a virgin is groomed and set up over a period of many months or years. After a naive "mark" is located, a process begins.
In stages, various psychological boundaries are broken down, until complete spiritual trust is earned to such a degree that the victim will go along with anything, believing it to be the "Holy Spirit" who is guiding everything. The victim is lulled into such a belief because the groomer is a Catholic priest who has earned her trust. In this particular case, according to the victim, Rachel, the priest was able to get her to the brink of being victimized in the black mass. But it was during a discussion with a friend where she admitted all that was happening, that the scales fell from her eyes, and she reported Fr. Bertrand to Church authorities.
That resulted in a confession by Bertrand to diocesan officials. The diocese suspended Bertrand but allowed him to lie publicly about the real reason, claiming he was under emotional duress because the parish had caught fire. Bertrand then informed parishioners that he would be taking a leave. About six months later, when McElroy had taken over as bishop of San Diego, he reinstated Bertrand as though nothing had happened.
Frustrated, Rachel went to the police, and a criminal prosecution was launched. At the last minute, seeking to avoid further publicity about the whole sordid affair, the diocese confessed and threw Bertrand under the bus, revealing he had admitted his guilt to them two years earlier. As we said, McElroy was not the bishop when this occurred, but he was the bishop who actually reinstated Bertrand after the priest spent some months "at prayer."
McElroy knew all about the case and then proceeded to lie to investigators, as well as the Catholics of the diocese of San Diego. So uncooperative was McElroy's diocese that the investigator actually allied Rachel in shock. In fact, the cover-up for this satanic priest was a full-court press engaged in by the diocese from first to last. And at the top of the whole affair, was a man upon whose head Pope Francis will place the red hat this coming weekend.
But hey, as they say, it's not like there's a crisis in the Church. That Special Report, "The Devil in Rome," airs tonight, immediately following Church Militant Evening News.
https://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/vortex-satanic-cover-up-cardinal