Pope Accepts Resignation of U.S. Bishop Charged With Embezzlement

Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation on Tuesday of Bishop Emanuel Shaleta, 69, who prosecutors say embezzled at least $270,000 from the St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in El Cajon, Calif. He was arrested last Thursday at San Diego International Airport while trying to leave the country and, from behind bars in a California Superior Courtroom on Monday in El Cajon, pleaded not guilty to 16 felony charges, including embezzlement and money laundering.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of 15 years. The bishop’s resignation was announced in the Vatican’s daily bulletin. Investigators said a parish representative reported missing money last August and provided financial statements to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities allege Bishop Shaleta stole cash from rent payments for the use of a parish hall and tried to cover up the embezzlement with other church funds intended to help the poor. “That money effectively vanished,” Joel Madero, the county’s deputy district attorney, said.

United States, El Cajon, California

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