A federal judge in New Orleans said Friday that he gave Archbishop Gregory Aymond the idea of bringing in the Saints’ top public relations executive to advise the archdiocese as it prepared to release a list of allegedly abusive clergymen.

Jay Zainey, a devout Catholic who has sat on the U.S. District Court bench in New Orleans since 2002, said he told Aymond before the November 2018 release of the list that Greg Bensel, the NFL team’s vice president of communications and a longtime friend of Zainey, could help manage the latest flare-up in the abuse scandal and ensure that parishioners and the public understood that safety measures were now in place to prevent “sins of the past” from recurring.

Zainey offered the suggestion during a chance encounter with Aymond at a Mass, he said.

“I said, ‘Greg may be a really good guy to help you get out the message you want,’” Zainey recalled in a phone interview Friday. “That … (the archdiocese) can’t change the sins of the past, but that (we) sympathize with the victims and let the public know what we’re doing to safeguard people.”

The relationships and communications among Aymond, Bensel, Saints owner Gayle Benson and other team officials before Aymond’s public accounting of the local church’s history of clergy abuse have become a critical point of contention in a lawsuit involving an alleged victim of deacon George Brignac, a suspected serial child abuser.

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Lawyers for the alleged victim say the archdiocese communicated not only with Saints officials but also with many other influential New Orleanians about the abuse crisis’ fallout. They cite hundreds of emails, currently under seal, among Saints executives, archdiocesan officials and others.

The two sides are fighting over whether those communications should be released to the public.

The Saints have claimed archdiocesan officials reached out to them and a number of other “community and civic minded leaders” who advised the archdiocese to be as transparent as possible in identifying abusive clergy, to turn the roster over to law enforcement, and to brief news media on the list ahead of time so that reporting on it would be accurate.

The plaintiffs counter that well-known figures in the “state, federal and private sectors,” along with Saints brass, had other motives, such as trying to soften media coverage of Aymond. They also argue the list that was released is incomplete and hides the true extent of church abuse in New Orleans.

On Friday, Zainey acknowledged that he was one of the civic leaders who got involved, but he said his role was more in line with what the Saints described.

“The angle I came from is: ‘Archbishop, what about letting the public know what is going on so it won’t happen again — have you talked to the press about that?’” Zainey said regarding his conversation with Aymond.

Zainey was alluding to the psychological screening, background and credit checks and repeated interviews that candidates for the priesthood must undergo now. Zainey — who serves on the board of trustees at Notre Dame Seminary, which educates student priests — said those measures have created a culture where misconduct is not tolerated.

Zainey said he then asked Aymond if he had ever considered seeking PR counsel from Bensel, a longtime spokesman for Aymond’s close friend Gayle Benson. Zainey said that he and Bensel, besides being close friends, are both alumni of Jesuit High School in New Orleans.

Zainey said he didn’t remember whether he called Bensel or if the archdiocese did, and he admitted he can’t be sure whether he was on any email exchanges.

But he acknowledged subsequently meeting with both men. He recalls Aymond saying he believed the best approach would be to provide “full transparency, full disclosure,” and to strive to make reparations.

“All Greg (Bensel) and I did was reaffirm Archbishop Aymond saying, ‘We are going to be transparent,’” Zainey said. “The advice was agreeing to what (Aymond) was already going to do.”

Zainey said he did not see the list in advance of its release or know who would end up on it.

At least one of the men on the list, Michael Fraser, has been accused of taking a local child on out-of-state trips to molest him, a potential federal offense. Fraser died last year; he was never charged.

Zainey acknowledged that any cases involving alleged federal crimes could end up being tried in the courthouse where he works. He said he would “of course” recuse himself from any church-related cases to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

“There is a difference between Jay Zainey and Judge Zainey,” he said. “This is what Jay Zainey did.”

U.S. District Judge Wendy Vitter would also almost certainly have to recuse herself from any civil or criminal cases involving alleged local clerical abuse. Before her 2019 appointment to New Orleans’ federal bench, Vitter was the archdiocese’s general counsel for several years.

Despite the potential for conflict, Zainey said he decided to speak with Aymond about Bensel as well as the list because he wanted to assist the man he considers “the shepherd” of New Orleans’ Catholic community.

Asked to comment Friday, plaintiff’s attorneys Richard Trahant, John Denenea and Soren Gisleson said, “Consistent with our ethical obligations and the stern direction from the (presiding judge), we can offer no comment on Judge Zainey’s involvement in this matter.”

An archdiocesan spokeswoman declined comment. Bensel declined comment as well, citing the judge's orders.

Besides serving on the seminary board, Zainey has contributed articles to the archdiocese’s newspaper, the Clarion Herald. The archdiocese in 2014 bestowed upon him its Saint John Paul II Award, recognizing monthly Masses which he organized for special-needs parishioners as well as his work with Catholic Charities to expedite court processes for immigrant children.