The New Orleans Saints played a more extensive role than previously known in local church leaders’ damage control during a crisis brought on by clergy engaged in an alleged systemic campaign of sexual abuse,

Hundreds of internal emails show executives of the New Orleans Saints were far more involved than previously known in providing public relations help to Catholic church leaders as they confronted a clergy sex abuse crisis.

For years the New Orleans Saints have worked to suppress information about its extraordinary relationship with the Catholic Church, and now everything is spilling out on the week the city is hosting the Super Bowl.