Word: sarita
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...visit by a Trappist monk called Brother Leo (Christopher Gregory) of St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Mass. Brother Leo, whom she had known before, was apparently doing some fund raising on behalf of two fledgling Trappist monasteries that St. Joseph's was establishing in South America. Sarita took a liking to the personable monk, who received permission from his abbot to stay with her while she completed arrangements for disposing of her estate. She even gave power of attorney to Brother Leo, who took her off to the sites of the new monasteries in Chile and Argentina...
...June 1960, to the surprise of her Texas friends, Sarita dropped the three members of the foundation, substituted Brother Leo and two prominent Catholics from the East Coast: Millionaire Layman J. Peter Grace, president of W. R. Grace & Co., and the Rev. Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., head of a prayer-crusading organization called Family Rosary, Inc. Eight months later Sarita died of cancer in a Manhattan hospital; Brother Leo, her constant companion during her last days, was at her bedside...
Vatican Intervention. Sarita's death created a legal battle that eventually forced the Vatican to intervene. Bishop Garriga sued to regain his old position as a member of the foundation. Sarita's cousin also sued for reinstatement, and got an injunction preventing Brother Leo, Grace and associates from touching any of the estate's funds. In addition, he demanded an accounting of $1,000,000 that Brother Leo had withdrawn from Texas banks, apparently to finance the South American monasteries...
...complicate matters still more, 43 of Sarita's relatives sued to set aside the entire will, charging that Brother Leo had exercised a Svengali-like influence over a sick old woman of unsound mind. Eventually, Rome's Consistorial Congregation sent Archbishop John Krol of Philadelphia down to Texas to find out what was going...
Separate Foundations. Last week the principal parties to the dispute seemed to be on the verge of an out-of-court settlement that would in effect create two separate foundations. About 80% of the estate, including Sarita's interest in La Parra and half the future oil royalties, would be administered by Bishop Garriga, the rest by the Eastern Catholics. By the time they settle, the claimants will have more money than they bargained for: since Sarita's death, oil royalties have increased the value of the estate by $2,000,000. As for Brother Leo, he presumably...