After federal investigators pounced on a Brooklyn priest for sketchy financial dealings, he has been removed from his leadership responsibilities. Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello courted controversy when he transferred $1.9 million to a firm run by Democratic Mayor Eric Adam’s former aid. He worked at Our Lady of Mount Carmel – Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish, which recently made the news for featuring in a sensual music video.
According to the New York Post, the diocese launched an investigation into Gigantiello, which found he “mishandled” funds and “interfered” with the operations of the parish. Bishop Robert Brennan said, “I am saddened to share that investigations conducted by Alvarez & Marsal and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP have uncovered evidence of serious violations of Diocesan policies and protocols at Our Lady of Mount Carmel – Annunciation Parish.”
In the same statement, Brennan said, “In order to safeguard the public trust and to protect church funds, I have appointed Bishop Witold Mroziewski as administrator of the parish.” Gigantiello allegedly sent $1 million of parish funds to Abrams Fensterman LLC in January 2019. In 2021, another $900,000 was transferred without the knowledge or approval of the diocese.
Arthur Aidala, Gigantiello’s lawyer, took his client’s side. He said, “The bishop relieved him of his financial duties, not his pastoral duties.” He claimed that the funds were part of an “investments” plan, not a loan. The lawyer also said he did not abuse his credit card as “The credit card is part of his compensation package.” The scandal-ridden priest also came under fire for allowing a pop star to film a racy video at his church.
He released a statement apologizing for his actions. He said “Understandably many are upset over what has transpired, no more than myself. On October 31st 2023 recording artist Sabrina Carpenter released a provocative music video which was filmed inside Immaculata Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church.”The priest said, “I offer my sincere apologies to the Bishop, the Diocese, any faithful parishioners, and all of you for this forgiveness.
“The parish was approached in September by a locally based film crew, scouting a location for the very example of Christ’s message and teachings. Sabrina Carpenter, “an effort to further strengthen the bonds between the young creative artists who make up a large part of this community and the parish,” agreed to the filming after a general search of the area and had not disclosed anything questionable,” the document alleged.
He went on to explain, ” Please know that I was not present for the filming. I had approved the filming with the understanding that the filming would be respectful of our sacred space and not contain anything contrary to our Catholic faith. While some of the scenes were respectful of our faith, other scenes were not.” He claims that “I was unaware that the filming would include scenes that would be contrary to our Catholic faith. ”
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He concluded by saying, “I take full responsibility for the erroneous decision to allow the filming. I want to assure you that I had no knowledge that such a scene would be filmed in our church, which we worked so hard to restore to its present sacred beauty.” The document ended by assuring the parishioners that the “$5,000 of the parish received for the filming of the video will be donated to Bridge to Life, so that from this negative event can come the promotion of life.”
Featured image: Screenshot from the embedded video.