Dolan Returns to the Milwaukee Archdiocese As Catholics Learn More about His Cover up of Clergy Sex Crimes
By John Pilmaier
New Cardinal plans to celebrate his promotion, not explain his stewardship of diocese which led to bankruptcy Former Milwaukee Archbishop, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York will return to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee this weekend to celebrate his promotion to the College of Cardinals. Dolan will preside at a Mass of Thanksgiving and attend other celebrations to be held in his honor arranged by himself and church officials from Milwaukee and New York. Amid the orchestrated fanfare, however, Dolan is unlikely to address his pivotal role in the clergy sex abuse crisis, which after decades is still unfolding in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Dolan, who promised to Catholics during his tenure here that the church would be transparent and accountable returns to an archdiocese that is suffering the consequences of his failure to do both. (For a fact sheet on Dolan's record handling sex abuse cases click here) Dolan, when in Milwaukee, never disclosed to Catholics the true nature and extent of the clergy sex abuse crisis in the archdiocese– the number of crimes committed, who committed those crimes, and which church officials covered them up. Only now as a result of revelations in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy, filed soon after Dolan left, are we learning the magnitude of the rape and sexual assault of children that took place in the Archdiocese. At least 8,000 instances of child sexual assault and abuse likely occurred in the archdiocese over the last several decades, according to court records. And the identities and whereabouts of at least 100 child sex offenders employed or ministering in the archdiocese remain unknown to the public—100 more than the 44 offenders that Dolan claimed was the total number. Indeed, the recent sex abuse depositions of former Milwaukee bishops Rembert Weakland and Richard Sklba, who orchestrated decades of cover up in the Milwaukee archdiocese– both men embraced and unpunished by Dolan– contains material so "scandalous" according to Judge Susan V. Kelley, that she would not release them to the public, apparently afraid of the impact they will have on the church's reputation and ability to function as a business. The depositions, along with 50,000 pages of internal church documents also under court seal, includes new information on dozens of predator priests and how they were handled, including the notorious Fr. Lawrence Murphy who church officials concluded assaulted at least 200 deaf children and whose actions were known by Vatican officials including Pope Benedict XVI, the man who this year made Dolan a cardinal. After celebrating his promotion Dolan should explain to Catholics and to the victims of clergy child sexual assault exactly what the "scandalous material" is that is being kept hidden from them and why they are not entitled to see it. As the nation's leading Catholic bishop Dolan should not only reveal this information, he should also instruct his successor Jerome Listecki to immediately halt his aggressive campaign against Milwaukee's victims of child sexual assault, including the 570 victims who filed claims in bankruptcy court. After asking victims to come forward, as ordered by the court, Listecki has tried to throw out as many claims for restitution as possible, upwards of 90 percent of all victims who filed. Finally, before returning home to New York Dolan should explain the mysterious transfer of tens of millions of dollars into new trust accounts he authorized prior to his departure from Milwaukee and the filing for bankruptcy. Those transfers include 55 million dollars moved into a "new" cemetery trust account (although the archdiocese already had a long established trust), 75 million dollars transferred from a parish investment account, and the creation of the Faith in our Future trust to hold 105 million dollars. These transfers and trust accounts are currently being reviewed by forensic accountants. So, Dolan may be back in Milwaukee soon, this time to be deposed in Federal Court as the former CEO of the Archdiocese, to explain his actions, and if warranted by the evidence, should be investigated for any criminal or civil violations. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world's oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We've been around for 23 years and have more than 10,000 members. Despite the word "priest" in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Visit us at SNAPnetwork.org and SNAPwisconsin.com CONTACT: 414.336.8575
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.