WAUKESHA (WI)
GM Today
By DENNIS A. SHOOK - GM Today Staff
April 21, 2005
WAUKESHA - Milwaukee Catholics should be feeling some natural gemŸtlichkeit for Pope Benedict XVI, Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan said Tuesday in comments at St. Francis Seminary.
Relating to Milwaukee’s rich German tradition, Dolan said the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, 78, from Germany, was a naturally popular and friendly man anyway.
"He is an engaging personality and a towering intellect," Dolan said. ...
The archbishop also pointed out that as a cardinal, Ratzinger had been the lead Vatican official dealing with cases of reported sexual abuse by priests.
Peter Isely, head of the Milwaukee chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said he was getting mixed signals from the man who is the new pope.
The cardinal helped close a Vatican probe into allegations that the prominent founder of the Legion of Christ, the Rev. Marciel Macial, a Mexican priest, sexually abused at least nine boys. But Ratzinger recently ordered the investigation to be reopened.
"They might be at the point where they want to get rid of this" sexual abuse stigma, Isely said after hearing the news Tuesday.
Posted by kshaw at April 21, 2005 09:06 AM