Tony Blair's priest fixed papal knighthoods f or cash: Senior Catholic took up to £50k don ations for honours

Tony Blair's priest fixed papal knighthoods for cash: Senior Catholic took up to 
£50k donations for honours 


By Ian Gallagher
Last updated at 4:39 AM on 27th March 2011
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	* Senior Catholic Fr Michael Seed admits soliciting charity donations of up to 
£50,000 for prestigious honours
	* Franciscan Friars ‘appalled’ by MoS disclosures... as Seed admits his actions 
could be ‘morally wrong’
 
Suspended: Father Michael Seed's superiors are said to be 'appalled'
One of Britain’s most high-profile Catholic priests has admitted arranging papal 
knighthoods for wealthy businessmen for money. 

Father  Michael Seed, who regularly celebrated Mass for Tony Blair and his  
family in Downing Street, now faces questions from his religious order  after an 
investigation by The Mail on Sunday. 

The  most damaging evidence concerns his attempted cultivation of an Israeli  
arms dealer, Hezi Bezalel, who was seeking business opportunities in  the 
Balkans.
It shows that  Fr Seed, a former ecumenical adviser to the Archbishop of 
Westminster,  had ‘agreed’ a papal knighthood for Mr Bezalel before approaching 
him.  In return for a £45,000 donation to charity, Fr Seed said he could also  
introduce Mr Bezalel to influential Balkan politicians ‘and the man who  looks 
after all arms for the region’. Mr Bezalel declined the offer,  saying he did 
not give to charity ‘under instruction’.
Papal  knighthoods are awarded to lay men and women for conspicuous service to  
the church and society. They are among the highest honours the Pope can  bestow.
Tonight a source  close to Fr Seed’s order, the Franciscan Friars of the 
Atonement, said  his superiors were ‘appalled’. Although he failed to solicit 
funds from  Mr Bezalel, at least four wealthy Britons were impressed by his  
overtures. Fr Seed admitted they made donations to an Archbishop  friend’s 
charity in Serbia to become papal knights.
It  was unclear last night if the four, who are each understood to have  
contributed between £25,000 and £50,000, had done anything else to merit  their 
honour.
Our inquiries also reveal that:
	* Fr  Seed gave a £34,000 cheque drawn from his order’s charity bank account  
to a friend, Chinese businesswoman Xuelin Black, who later paid the  money into 
his personal account. Last night the order said it was  auditing accounts over 
the disclosure. Ms Black, 47, who was made a  papal dame by Pope Benedict XVI, 
is a Tory donor and adviser to the  Government’s Big Society project.
	* Fr  Seed is on indefinite leave from his order after claims that he marked  
the 25th anniversary of his ordination in January with a champagne party  at a 
racy club, with entertainment provided by men dressed as nuns.
	* He lives rent-free in a flat owned by one of his wealthy papal knights in 
exclusive Dolphin Square in Pimlico, Central London.
Fr  Seed, who has taken a vow of poverty, denied profiting from any of the  
deals. But he agreed that trying to solicit funds from Mr Bezalel could  be seen 
as ‘morally wrong’.
Asked if he thought many would see the deal as an abuse of the papal honours 
system, he said: ‘Of course I do.’
Fr  Seed is honorary chaplain to the International Committee on Human  Dignity, 
based at the European Parliament in Brussels. But it was as  unofficial Catholic 
envoy to Parliament that he acquired many  well-connected friends. He was 
praised by Cherie Blair for turning ‘the  great into the good’ and helped to 
convert Tony Blair, Ann Widdecombe,  John Gummer and the Duchess of Kent.
 
Admission: Father Seed is facing questions from his religious order
When he approached Mr Bezalel in  November 2008, he had recently left his post 
as ecumenical adviser to  Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, then Catholic Primate 
of England and  Wales.
The Mail on Sunday  can reveal that Fr Seed and his go-between, American 
corporate  strategist Kalman Sporn, 39, constructed a careful plan to try to win  
over Mr Bezalel. 

Central  to their strategy was Archbishop Eugenio Sbarbaro, the Vatican’s  
ambassador to Serbia, who had the power to nominate people for papal  
knighthoods. He has been a close friend of Fr Seed for nearly 30 years  and Fr 
Seed was soliciting funds for the Archbishop’s Belgrade charity,  The Path to 
Peace in the Balkans Foundation.
In  an email to Mr Sporn dated November 17, 2008, Fr Seed wrote: ‘Spoke to  
Eugenio – Hezi can meet President [of Montenegro, Filip Vujanovic] any  time he 
wishes – Eugenio will call him.
‘Eugenio  will also introduce Hezi to the man who looks after all arms for the  
region of Serbia, Montenegro and the Balkans in general – he is a friend  of 
Eugenio – my side of deal is done – Eugenio will entertain Hezi in  Belgrade. We 
must act quickly as Eugenio might be going on vacation in a  week or so to his 
family in Italy, near Genoa, till early December.  Papal knighthood is also 
agreed.’ The following day Fr Seed sent an  email to Mr Bezalel couched in more 
formal language.
In  it, he said he understood from Mr Sporn that ‘you are seeking a meeting  
with the President of Montenegro and I am only too happy to facilitate  that for 
you whenever you wish’.
Fr  Seed added: ‘I have spoken with the Archbishop and he is only too happy  to 
assist you in any way you wish. I have told him of your particular  interests 
and he is again familiar with the specific people (at the  highest level) you 
wish to meet. As he has been in the region for nine  years he is very well known 
and trusted by all.’
Although  he made no mention of a papal knighthood at this point, Fr Seed raised  
the matter in an email to Mr Sporn later that day. He included advice on  how to 
court their target.
He told Mr Sporn: ‘We must wait and see  now – my email says it all – no mention 
of Papal Knighthood though – you can do that.’ He advised Mr Sporn to stress how 
‘good’ the honour has  been for two British philanthropists. One was made a 
Knight of the  Pontifical Order of Pope Saint Sylvester in 2004. Archbishop 
Sbarbaro  gave him the award for his support for ‘inter-faith initiatives’ in 
the  Balkans.
 
'Turning the great into the good': Father Seed converts Ann Widdecombe to 
Catholicism
In the 2008 email to Mr Sporn,  Fr Seed said of the papal knighthood nomination 
process: ‘We have time –  he can submit even as late as April 09 if necessary. 
[Archbishop  Sbarbaro retired in late 2009.] He [the Archbishop] is submitting 
names  next in January.
‘Hezi  could be on that list and be invested in February, perhaps at the Ritz  
hotel, London. I can get the grand rooms free of charge – or wherever he  
wishes. Eugenio would come over for it.’ 

Mr  Bezalel was unmoved by Fr Seed’s offer, though he told him on November  21 
that his representative in the Balkans ‘will approach you should we  need’. 
Undeterred, Mr Sporn told Mr Bezalel next day: ‘I don’t think you  understand 
the context and nature of Father Seed’s recommendation; so I  will spell it out 
for you. If you Hezi Bezalel make a sizeable  contribution to the charitable 
efforts of His Excellency Eugenio  Sbarbaro in Belgrade; then on a diplomatic 
level you will be introduced  to certain heads of state in both Serbia, 
Montenegro and Croatia. A  sizeable contribution is more than $75,000 [£47,000]. 
The Vatican can  open certain doors for you ...’
Mr  Sporn tried again soon after. Accusing Mr Bezalel of being  ‘short-sighted’, 
he told him: ‘Within days you could be sitting with the  Presidents of Kosovo, 
Serbia and Montenegro selling them technologies  they want and need. To achieve 
direct access... surely 75,000 is a small  fee.’
Later that day, Mr  Bezalel replied by email: ‘I don’t like this approach. When 
I give to  charity it’s because I want and not under instruction. I’m trying to 
be  as polite as possible. So please let’s forget about it.’
 
Friend: Archbishop Sbarbaro made nominations for papal knighthoods
Fr Seed was a student at the Catholic  University of America when he met 
Archbishop Sbarbaro in Washington in  the early Eighties. The Archbishop was 
charge d’affaires at the Vatican  embassy. 

This January, the  Archbishop flew to London to conduct a Mass at the Church of 
the  Immaculate Conception, in Mayfair, marking Fr Seed’s 25 years as a  priest. 
At a party afterwards at the Pigalle Club in Piccadilly, known  for its racy 
floor shows, many were taken aback when men appeared on  stage wearing nuns’ 
habits. 

Party guests ranged from Westminster diocese clerics to millionaire benefactors 
who had flown in by private jet. 

His order exclaustrated Fr Seed, meaning he is suspended indefinitely but is 
bound by his religious vows.
Last  night Fr Seed said he was introduced to Mr Bezalel by Mr Sporn, a New  
Yorker who keeps a blown-up photo in his apartment of himself with Tony  Blair.
Admitting the emails  were ‘extremely damaging’, Fr Seed said: ‘I regret the 
language used.  It was because I was dealing with Kalman Sporn, who is very 
blunt. I had  to use language that he understood.’ When it was put that he was  
effectively trying to facilitate a potential arms deal, he replied: ‘I  can’t 
deny that ... it’s terrible.’
But  he said all the funds he solicited helped charity in the Balkans. He  said 
donations went to Archbishop Sbarbaro, who then distributed them as  he saw fit. 
‘At the heart of this is goodness,’ he said. 


Asked if he thought donors he  recruited were motivated more by a papal 
knighthood then helping good  causes, he laughed: ‘I can’t answer that.’ He 
admitted he is living in a London flat owned by Gregory King, a Glaswegian 
corporate money lender  whose fortune is estimated at £200 million. Fr Seed 
claimed that Mr  King, who could not be contacted last night, received a papal 
knighthood after donating to Archbishop Sbarbaro’s charity.
Archbishop Sbarbaro said yesterday: ‘Fr Seed is a very good man. When I was  
ambassador I met a lot of people and I awarded papal knighthoods but  this was a 
secondary part of my work.’
He could not remember discussing Mr Bezalel with Fr Seed but said: ‘The  Church 
rewards people who are charitable. I still work for the  foundation and we are 
completing two works in Serbia which came about  through kind donations.’
Mr Bezalel did not respond to calls last week. He has many other business 
interests.
The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, based in New York, stressed they  were 
unaware of Fr Seed’s ‘involvement with soliciting funds for any  charitable 
organisation’. They were ‘most definitely not aware of any  promises or implied 
promises of a papal knighthood’.
 
High-profile: Father Michael Seed regularly celebrated Mass for Tony Blair and 
his family in Downing Street
Mr Sporn said the emails  referred to helping Mr Bezalel with introductions to 
politicians who  could faciliate Balkans technology deals. 

He  said: ‘Hezi was involved in the arms trade but for five years he has  been a 
distributor for security technology for software companies.
‘Sometimes  when you are raising money for charity, the language may sound  
heavy-handed but the overall result is beautiful. Fr Seed and I were  raising 
money for Path to Peace, which brings Jews, Muslims and  Christians together in 
the former Yugoslavia. Hezi already had business  interests there and the 
approach was that he should use them to support  this charity.’
He said he and Fr Seed would not have been remunerated if Mr Bezalel had agreed 
to their proposal.

Riddle over the £34,000 he gave to Tory donor 
 
Questions: Father Seed with Tory donor Xuelin Black
A Chinese businesswoman is at the centre of a mystery over why Fr Seed gave her 
£34,000 from his order’s charity bank account.
Xuelin Black, 47, has lived in London since the late Nineties ‘developing 
business and political interests’. 

In  the run-up to last year’s Election she donated £50,000 to the Tories  and 
was later invited to their summer ball. She now advises Mr Cameron’s  Big 
Society ‘Tsar’ Lord Wei.
Last  night the Franciscan order was investigating why Fr Seed gave her the  
£34,000 cheque drawn from its charity account. She held on to it for two  months 
before paying it into Fr Seed’s personal account.
Fr Seed described it as a ‘loan’ when questioned by The Mail on Sunday but 
declined to elaborate.
Miss  Black, who runs an import business was made a papal dame by Pope  Benedict 
XVI. She insisted yesterday that Fr Seed had inherited money  following an 
elderly relative’s death.
‘He  didn’t have a bank account so I held on to it for a couple of months  while 
he opened one,’ she said. She added that she was introduced to  Archbishop 
Eugenio Sbarbaro by Fr Seed at a party ‘years ago’.
She  said: ‘He [the Archbishop] told me about his good work and asked if I  
could help. I made a donation a few years later. I didn’t expect to be  made a 
papal dame. I do loads of work for charity.’ She said the  Archbishop flew to 
London to present her with the honour at the Ritz  hotel. Fr Seed was also 
there.

Elite band of 400 Britons
 
Prized: The papal knighthood medal for which four Britons allegedly donated up 
to £50,000 to a charity n the Balkans
Britain now has 400 papal knights – an award that Popes have been making since 
the early Middle Ages.
Originally they were conferred to the nobility.
But today the Papal Orders of Chivalry are a means for the Holy See to 
distinguish all those who have served the Church well. 

British papal knights are traditionally members of the Pontifical Orders of 
Saint Gregory the Great and Pope Saint Sylvester.
Most are Catholics but some come from other faiths. 
Knights and dames wear their badges suspended from a ribbon on their left 
breasts at ceremonies.
They are entitled to wear a uniform of their order. Dames wear capes.
The  uniform of St Gregory is dark green, with silver buttons and braiding;  
that of St Sylvester is black, with gold buttons and braiding.
The uniform is accompanied by a cocked hat and dress sword.
Those honoured do not have specific obligations.
But it is customary to take part in major diocese events like consecrating 
bishops and ordinating priests.
 
Explore more:
People: 
Cherie Blair, 
Tony Blair, 
Ann Widdecombe 
Places: 
London, 
Brussels, 
New York, 
Washington, 
Croatia, 
Italy, 
Wales, 
Montenegro, 
United Kingdom, 
America, 
Ritz Hotel 

Read more: 
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