BishopAccountability.org
	New Archbishop in Milwaukee, but Approach to Clergy Sex Abuse Is Same Old, Same Old By Michael Sneesby Voice from the Desert January 5, 2010 http://reform-network.net/?p=2500 Received via email on 1.3.2010 from Peter Isely. Thanks, Peter. * * * On eve of installation, more worrisome comments on sex abuse Listecki needs to bring his “Brett Favre” to Madison on January 12 and explain Statement by Michael Sneesby, SNAP Milwaukee Co-Director CONTACT: Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director, 414.429.7259 It’s hard to make much sense these days of the comments from leaders, old and new, of the Milwaukee archdiocese concerning clergy sex crimes and cover up. First, there was the testimony in Madison last month before the Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Children and Families by the archbishop designee of Milwaukee, Jerome Listecki, indicating that if a sex offender assaults an eighteen year old then, apparently, remaining or returning to ministry is still a legitimate option. Then, there were his press comments in La Crosse stating that he couldn’t explain or address concerns about his record of keeping a greater percentage of priests reported to have assaulted children in ministry than any other diocese in the United States because it was the holiday season and he didn’t have the time. And yesterday, in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee auxiliary Bishop Callahan, when asked about the growing evidence from new documents that his colleague Bishop Richard Sklba was the principal player in covering up child sex crimes for Archbishop Weakland, replied that Sklba is retiring this year so it’s a “non-issue.” It’s hard to tell whether Sklba is a “non-issue” because retirement will confer on him some magical immunity for secretly transferring and concealing priest pedophiles or because he will no longer be the “go to guy” for sex abuse cases, which is how Weakland recently described Sklba’s role. We have seen this seeming cluelessness from Callahan before. Earlier this year, when interviewed on WISN12 about Weakland’s memoirs, Callahan said that he “never realized Weakland was gay.” But to hear these kinds of responses from Listecki, who will be taking over an archdiocese headed for a deepening financial and moral crisis because of actions by Sklba and Weakland, is alarming. Does the new archbishop share Callahan’s opinion that defrauding Catholics even as it costs the archdiocese millions of dollars is a “non-issue?” Apparently so. At his first press conference in Milwaukee, Listecki praised Sklba, echoing his predecessor, as “my Brett Favre.” It is becoming increasingly clear from the evidence that it is Sklba who directed and implemented the cover up of thousands of child sex crimes involving at least 71 diocesan and religious order clergy for at least 25 years. Yet, he has faced no accountability or punishment for his actions, and he remains, incredibly, the second most powerful man in the archdiocese. Compare Listecki’s comments on Sklba to the actions of the archbishop of Dublin last month who demanded and received the resignations of all four auxiliary bishops in his diocese who had covered up child sex crimes. As the new archbishop is installed, it’s expected that criticism and disagreement will be put aside for the moment, to welcome him. Unfortunately, child sex offenders, including offender clergy, don’t stop targeting and harming children because a new bishop is in town. That is why, when the Wisconsin Senate Judiciary Committee hears testimony January 12 on the Child Victims Act, not only must Jerome Listecki be back to explain himself but it is absolutely necessary that he bring with him this time Sklba, his very own “Brett Favre,” and explain to elected officials why this bill is not necessary to identify sex offenders and safeguard children.
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