Luxury Without End: The Happy Life of Bishop Bransfield
The lavish life of retired Wheeling-Charleston Bishop Michael Bransfield, 76, has been exposed in a long September 13 Washington Post article.
Bransfield was accused by two young priests of homosexual advances, and was therefore barred from public ministry in July.
During his 13 years in Wheeling, he took nearly 150 trips on private jets and some 200 limousine rides.
He stayed at exclusive hotels in Washington, Rome, Paris, London and the Caribbean, later blaming his staff for selecting luxury accommodations.
He spent $2.4 million on travel and gave $350,000 in cash gifts to other prelates. The diocese announced it may seek to recover money Bransfield spent inappropriately.
Before arriving in West Virginia in 2005, the later bishop ministered decades in Washington in various posts at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Bransfield told The Post that he had grown accustomed to the comfortable Washington lifestyle. The former House speaker Newt Gingrich credited Bransfield with helping convert him to Catholicism.
Wheeling-Charleston diocese is rich. More than a century ago, a New York heiress donated land in West Texas to the diocese. The land turned out to be rich with oil, generating annual revenue of almost $15 million in recent years.
During his thirteen years in Wheeling, Bransfield spent $4.6 million on renovations to his residence, almost $140,000 at restaurants, $62,000 on jewelry, and thousands on alcohol.
In his last year, Bransfield flew by chartered luxury jet at least 19 times at a cost of over $142,000. During his years in West Virginia, he spent almost $1 million on private jets.
The Nuncios in Washington, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, and his predecessor Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò each rode on a jet paid for by the diocese. Viganò told The Post he did not know his 2013 flight was paid for by the Wheeling-Charleston diocese.
Bransfield also routinely traveled in luxury overseas. During his tenure, he visited Paris, London and Geneva, often flying first-class and staying in leading hotels. At times he was accompanied by young priests. They were told that the bishop paid privately for the trips.
In an interview with The Post, Bransfield lamented the lack of shopping opportunities in Wheeling. “I didn’t have the opportunity in West Virginia to live the lifestyle I lived in Washington,” he said.
Bransfield routinely took winter vacations at the diocese’s expense to the Cayman Islands, St. Maarten and St. Barthelemy in the Caribbean.
As a tax-exempt charity, the Church is prohibited from spending on luxuries or services that unduly benefit an individual.
People in the diocese had sent letters to the Vatican six years earlier seeking an investigation of Bransfield’s spending, but four prelates in the US and at the Vatican who received written complaints had also received cash gifts from Bransfield.
On 25 August 2018, Bransfield was summoned to the Washington nunciature, a four-hours drive from Wheeling. However, he chartered a private jet and hopped into a limousine to drive to the nunciature.
Later he told The Post that that was when he first learned that his job was imperiled. “It was the worst day of my life,” Bransfield said.
However, at this point he was only days away from his 75thbirthday when he had to hand in his resignation anyway.
Bransfield was accused by two young priests of homosexual advances, and was therefore barred from public ministry in July.
During his 13 years in Wheeling, he took nearly 150 trips on private jets and some 200 limousine rides.
He stayed at exclusive hotels in Washington, Rome, Paris, London and the Caribbean, later blaming his staff for selecting luxury accommodations.
He spent $2.4 million on travel and gave $350,000 in cash gifts to other prelates. The diocese announced it may seek to recover money Bransfield spent inappropriately.
Before arriving in West Virginia in 2005, the later bishop ministered decades in Washington in various posts at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Bransfield told The Post that he had grown accustomed to the comfortable Washington lifestyle. The former House speaker Newt Gingrich credited Bransfield with helping convert him to Catholicism.
Wheeling-Charleston diocese is rich. More than a century ago, a New York heiress donated land in West Texas to the diocese. The land turned out to be rich with oil, generating annual revenue of almost $15 million in recent years.
During his thirteen years in Wheeling, Bransfield spent $4.6 million on renovations to his residence, almost $140,000 at restaurants, $62,000 on jewelry, and thousands on alcohol.
In his last year, Bransfield flew by chartered luxury jet at least 19 times at a cost of over $142,000. During his years in West Virginia, he spent almost $1 million on private jets.
The Nuncios in Washington, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, and his predecessor Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò each rode on a jet paid for by the diocese. Viganò told The Post he did not know his 2013 flight was paid for by the Wheeling-Charleston diocese.
Bransfield also routinely traveled in luxury overseas. During his tenure, he visited Paris, London and Geneva, often flying first-class and staying in leading hotels. At times he was accompanied by young priests. They were told that the bishop paid privately for the trips.
In an interview with The Post, Bransfield lamented the lack of shopping opportunities in Wheeling. “I didn’t have the opportunity in West Virginia to live the lifestyle I lived in Washington,” he said.
Bransfield routinely took winter vacations at the diocese’s expense to the Cayman Islands, St. Maarten and St. Barthelemy in the Caribbean.
As a tax-exempt charity, the Church is prohibited from spending on luxuries or services that unduly benefit an individual.
People in the diocese had sent letters to the Vatican six years earlier seeking an investigation of Bransfield’s spending, but four prelates in the US and at the Vatican who received written complaints had also received cash gifts from Bransfield.
On 25 August 2018, Bransfield was summoned to the Washington nunciature, a four-hours drive from Wheeling. However, he chartered a private jet and hopped into a limousine to drive to the nunciature.
Later he told The Post that that was when he first learned that his job was imperiled. “It was the worst day of my life,” Bransfield said.
However, at this point he was only days away from his 75thbirthday when he had to hand in his resignation anyway.