Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday accepted the resignation of Bishop Emanuel Shaleta, a Chaldean Catholic bishop based in the San Diego area, as Shaleta faced U.S. criminal charges accusing him of embezzling money from his parish. The Vatican said in its daily bulletin that Pope Leo accepted the resignation under the code of canon law for Eastern Rite churches, a process that allows the pope to accept a bishop’s request to step down.
The charges against Shaleta stem from alleged conduct involving the St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in El Cajon, east of San Diego. The case centers on allegations that Shaleta embezzled $270,000 from the parish, and the bishop pleaded not guilty on Monday to 16 felony charges, including money laundering, prosecutors said.
Shaleta, 69, was arrested Thursday at San Diego International Airport as he was trying to leave the country, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office. Prosecutor Joel Madero said the allegations were tied to monthly rental payments of more than $30,000 from a tenant of the church’s social hall that prosecutors allege were missing, and Madero said there were discrepancies in the church’s accounts. Madero also said Shaleta “provided completely unreasonable tales of where that money was going.”
In court, the judge set bail at $125,000 and seized Shaleta’s passport, with Madero saying Shaleta was a flight risk. Shaleta’s attorney, Sharon Appelbaum, said the planned trip from Thursday was arranged ahead of time, and authorities did not say where he was headed. Prosecutors said Shaleta could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted on all charges, and they scheduled a preliminary hearing for April 27.
The Vatican said Shaleta’s resignation was accepted under canon law for Eastern Rite churches, but it also said the resignation had already been accepted in February, according to the Vatican embassy in Washington. The Holy See appears to have waited to announce the decision, the report said, to avoid interfering with the police investigation. During a Feb. 22 Mass, Shaleta addressed the allegations and said he had never “abused any penny of the church money,” adding that he had “done [his] best to preserve and manage the donations of the church properly.”
At the parish, the El Cajon church’s doors were closed Tuesday and its parking lot was empty, and Pope Leo named Bishop Saad Hanna Sirop as a temporary administrator. The priests of the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle also issued a statement expressing solidarity with Shaleta, and Appelbaum said she planned to show that the allegations were false.
In the same Vatican bulletin, Iraqi Cardinal Louis Sako, 76, retired as patriarch of the global Chaldean Catholic Church. Sako said in a statement that he freely offered his resignation to Pope Leo XIV and that he was leaving “of my own will,” and the bulletin said it was unclear if the retirement was connected to Shaleta’s case.
Religious scholars said Sako’s retirement could be significant for leadership in the wider community of Chaldean Catholics in the United States, which the Chaldean Community Foundation estimates includes about 500,000 members, with the largest concentration in Detroit. A report from a priest who leads the Center for Ukrainian Church Studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, Rev. Mark Morozowich, said leadership changes could open the way for a “younger leader who brings new life into the community,” adding that Shaleta’s resignation was likely to cause turmoil beyond the Southern California parish because the bishop serves as a “spiritual father” for the diocese.