Via Fed Ex & Apostolic Nuncio of the United States

Wisconsin SNAP
November 26, 2013

http://03409bc.netsolhost.com/snapwisconsin/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/JEC-ltr-to-Cong-of-Clergy-Final1.pdf

[letter to the Vatican]

Archbishop Beniamino Stella

Prefect, Congregation for the Clergy

Piazza Pio XII, 3

00193 Rome, Italy

Re.: Congregatio pro Clericis

Prot. N. 20071627

Dear Archbishop Stella,

This document is a unique collaboration between victims/survivors of childhood Catholic clergy sexual abuse and supporters of the victims/survivors. We seek your assistance in correcting an injustice caused, in part, by a decision made by Claudio Cardinal Hummes, O.F.M. on July 18, 2007, while he served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy. A decision he may not have made had all the details been made known to him.

Following is a timeline which delineates the circumstances of our appeal to you, as well as several supporting documents which are attached. In essence, a request for the transfer of $57,000,000.00 was granted to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, a move designed to shelter these funds from any claims and liabilities. We contend that the action does the meet the moral or legal requirements stated in the Code of Canon Law (see Appendix A).

Timeline of Events

2007 Approximately $57,000,000.00, that previously was part of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Corporation (identified as assets designated for the future care of cemeteries and mausoleums) was removed from that corporation and deposited in an account of a newly established Cemetery Trust. No documentation of the motivation for this movement of money or the existence of proper Vatican authorization to do so was made public.

January 2011 The Archdiocese of Milwaukee, under the direction of Archbishop Jerome Listecki, filed a petition for a Chapter 11 reorganization of its financial affairs under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Summer/Fall 2011 A group of Catholic clergy abuse victims/survivors and Catholic priests enter into an Alliance to promote a new kind of dialogue.

December 2011 The Alliance produced a full-page news announcement encouraging victims with a claim against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to come forward prior to the February 1, 2012, filing deadline.

February 1, 2012 Deadline given by the Bankruptcy Court for any person, for whatever reason, to file a financial claim against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

More than 550 claims were filed with the Bankruptcy Court.

2012/2013 The Bankruptcy judge determined which assets of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee are to be considered for payment of any claims and liabilities.