BishopAccountability.org
	Wisconsin Appeals Court Rules against Milwaukee Archdiocese By Peter Isely SNAP Wisconsin November 23, 2010 http://mnsnap.wordpress.com/snapnetwork-org-wisconsin/ Opportunity for area Catholics to join victim/survivors in calling for accountability and transparency from Listecki Today’s court ruling in Wisconsin against the archdiocese of Milwaukee is clear: no corporation, including religious ones, can use insurance money to bail them out of the consequences for criminal or fraudulent conduct. It does not matter if the fraud was committed by a CEO conspiring with a board of directors or a bishop conspiring with a pedophile priest. Current and past archbishops and bishops of the Milwaukee archdiocese have been and are engaged in deliberate and various practices of institutional misrepresentation and concealment. Today’s decision means that Catholics must more than ever demand accountability and transparency from the archdiocese. They must insist on becoming full participants in how the church investigates, disciplines and fires priests who commit acts of sexual abuse and how church finances are collected, distributed, and audited. Concretely, Catholics can insist that Archbishop Jerome Listecki act in good faith with victim/survivors now in mediation with the archdiocese. These victims are insisting, as they should, that Listecki first commit to future child safety measures before any monetary discussions take place to settle cases. That’s a courageous and responsible stance to take. Catholics can send an unmistakable signal to Listecki that they support the proposals these victims are bringing to him. So far, Listecki, like Dolan and Weakland before him, is keeping secret the full list of all clergy known by the archdiocese to have assaulted children in the archdiocese along with the files and records detailing the management decisions concerning criminal abuse histories, assignments, and where these offenders are currently being warehoused or relocated. A good catholic is an informed catholic. The rape and sexual assault of children by catholic clergy and the cover up of those crimes by bishops has never been about legitimate differences and debate concerning Catholic theology and practice. Since it is Catholic children and their families paying the cost of the abuse and fraud, both as victims and charitable contributors, hasn’t the time come for the financial management of the church and the auditing of child safety measures and compliance be taken out of the hands of bishops and into the hands of law enforcement and parishes?
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