MICHIGAN
WOOD
By Joe LaFurgey
(Detroit, June 21, 2005, 7:20 p.m.) The Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids has a new bishop . Pope Benedict XVI named Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Walter A. Hurley to succeed the late Bishop Kevin Britt, who died in May 2004.
Bishop Hurley spent the last 40 years as a priest in Detroit. Those that know him best describe him as personable, as well as a visionary. ...
In 1998, Cardinal Adam Maida put Bishop Hurley in charge of sexual abuse investigations within the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Some victims of that abuse say the diocese and Bishop Hurley haven't done enough to address their concerns. Ned Noon, a metro Detroit resident and a member of SNAP, the survivors network of those abused by priests, told 24 Hour News 8, "We were stonewalled all the way through and did not see any good intentions on the part of the diocese."
But Father Miller defends the diocese's actions under Bishop Hurley. "We have to protect the rights of everybody, and that includes the one that's accused."