Milwaukee Archdiocese Set to Release Documents on Clergy Sex Abuse

By Marie Rohde
National Catholic Reporter
July 1, 2013

http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/milwaukee-archdiocese-set-release-documents-clergy-sex-abuse

Milwaukee

Lawyers representing the victims of clergy sex abuse in the Milwaukee archdiocese said documents slated for release Monday afternoon will reveal greater insight into the role of the Vatican and local church leaders in priest abuse cases. The lawyers also hinted that New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan may have moved church assets before leaving Milwaukee in an effort to protect them from a bankruptcy filing.

In a statement released this weekend, Archbishop Jerome Listecki warned readers of the documents to "prepare to be shocked" and that "news about this topic can shake one's faith." He pleaded with readers to understand the "evolution of thinking" on sexual abuse of children since the 1970s.

"Church leaders and other professionals tried their best to deal with the issue given the knowledge available at the time," he said.

The more than 6,000 pages of documents include:

• The deposition of Dolan, archbishop of Milwaukee from June 2002 to February 2009, now the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Jeff Anderson, the lead lawyer representing the more than 570 victims who have filed claims, said in a press release that Dolan's activities leading to the filing of the bankruptcy will be revealed. Lawyers for the victims earlier said Dolan transferred $55 million to a cemetery fund in order to protect it from claims. Another $35 million was transferred to parishes, they said. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley ruled that money could not be touched. Lawyers for the claimants could appeal that ruling.
• The deposition of former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland could reveal specifics on the handling of sex abuse cases by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI. Weakland wrote in a book that Vatican officials refused to defrock Fr. Lawrence Murphy, a priest believed to have abused 200 deaf children. Anderson sued the Vatican for fraud in 2010 but dropped the case two years later.
• The deposition of now-retired Auxiliary Bishop Richard Sklba, a man Weakland described as his "go-to guy" for abuse cases. In an article written for the archdiocesan newspaper, Sklba said he was trying to provide context for his deposition. His article provides hints of the deposition, among the most startling being that "later in the 1990s" a panel was formed to consider the conditions needed for the reassignment of offenders. Some were reassigned until as late as 2002. (Listecki in his statement acknowledged that eight of the 22 who were reassigned abused again.)
• The deposition of Daniel Budzynski, a priest ordained in 1957 who retired in 1994. He was on an archdiocesan list of priests who had substantiated claims of abuse made against them.
• Personnel files of more than 40 priests. Those internal church documents will show how church officials responded to allegations of abuse, including moving them from one assignment to another without notifying anyone of the offender's past misconduct. SNAP Wisconsin, a group of survivors working for more than 20 years on abuse issues, criticized the list of offenders compiled by the archdiocese as incomplete and lacking in the credibility of one compiled by an independent review. They listed three current cases involving priests who have been removed amid allegations as well as a large number of religious order priests. They also note three permanent deacons, several nuns and others working for the church.