The disgraced San Diego bishop accused of frequenting Mexican brothels and stealing a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars} from his church was formally booted from his position by Pope Leo XIV.
Bishop Emanuel Shaleta’s resignation was accepted by the 70-year-old pontiff on Tuesday, the identical day he was launched from jail after posting a $125,000 bail, the Vatican introduced.
“The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle of San Diego of the Chaldeans, United States of America, introduced by Bishop Emanuel Hana Shaleta,” Vatican officers mentioned in a press release.
Shaleta, who submitted his resignation to Pope Leo in January, was arrested on March 6 on the San Diego Worldwide Airport when he trying to board a global flight to Germany with over $9,000 in his bag, officers claimed.
The 69-year-old prelate was charged with eight counts of embezzlement, eight counts of cash laundering and one depend of aggravated white collar crime enhancement.
Throughout his arraignment on Monday, Shaleta pleaded not responsible to fifteen felony counts of economic crimes however remained behind bars on the San Diego County Jail after he was unable to put up bail till Tuesday.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Workplace was first tipped off to Shaleta’s alleged crimes in August 2025, when an official from St. Peter Chaldean Church in El Cajon shared statements and paperwork that confirmed the bishop’s unholy workings.
Final month, Catholic information outlet The Pillar reported that the bishop allegedly diverted rental funds from church property for private use and later coated his tracks with charity funds.
Investigators allegedly discovered no less than $427,000 have been lacking from church funds with the determine presumably reaching $1 million.
“I’ve by no means — in my episcopal life — have I used any penny of the church cash,” Shaleta mentioned. “Quite the opposite: I’ve completed my greatest to protect and handle the donations,” additionally saying, “you’re the just one who can imagine me and defend my integrity within the church monetary issues and in life.”
Together with the lacking cash, it was revealed that Shaleta commonly traveled to a brothel named the Hong Kong Gentleman’s Membership in Tijuana’s Zona Norte red-light district.
A personal investigator documented Shaleta utilizing a shuttle “unique to the membership’s patrons” to go to the Hong Kong Gents’s Membership in Tijuana, the outlet reported.
The brothel is positioned in Tijuana’s Zona Norte red-light district, an space that has lengthy been scrutinized by regulation enforcement and anti-trafficking organizations.
Shaleta just isn’t accused of any trafficking exercise.
Regardless of the damning allegations, a big crowd of supporters appeared in courtroom for Shaleta, requiring some advocates to take a seat exterior the courtroom.
Considered one of his most vocal supporters was Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, the Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans.
Sako had referred to as for Shaleta to be positioned on the Chaldean Catholic church’s headquarters in Baghdad regardless of the bishop’s investigation.
In a simultaneous announcement of Shaleta’s resignation, the Vatican additionally accepted Sako’s resignation as head of the Chaldean Catholic Church.
Shaleta’s place, presently in “sede vacante” or the see being vacant, will likely be briefly ruled by Bishop Saad Hanna Sirop, the Vatican introduced.
Shaleta, an Iraqi native, was ordained a priest by Pope John Paul II in 1984 and has held positions in Detroit and Canada.
In 2017, Pope Francis appointed Shaleta to function the eparchial bishop of Saint Peter Apostle of San Diego of the Chaldeans
