Vatican Iraq Patriarch
FILE - Louis Sako, patriarch of Iraq's Chaldean Catholic Church, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad, Iraq, April 21, 2025.
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Pope Leo XIV says a Chaldean Catholic bishop has resigned after he was arrested while trying to leave the U.S. following accusations that he embezzled $270,000 from his parish near San Diego. The resignation was announced Tuesday by the Vatican after Bishop Emanuel Shaleta was charged with felonies including money laundering. Shaleta, who pleaded not guilty Monday, was arrested at San Diego International Airport last week. His lawyer says the allegations are false and that the flight was pre-planned. The San Diego County Sheriff's Office says the arrest came after someone from Shaleta’s church provided documentation last August “showing potential embezzlement from the church.” The Chaldean Catholic Church represents more than a million Aramaic-speaking Christians.
