Petition Asking Vatican to Remove Syracuse Bishop Circulating

TWC News
November 6, 2015

http://www.twcnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2015/11/5/petition-asking-vatican-to-remove-bishop-circulating.html

[with video]

An online petition asking the Vatican to remove Bishop Robert Cunningham as head of the Syracuse Diocese now has more than 85,000 signatures.

Kevin Braney is one of the creators of the petition. He says a letter was sent to the Vatican requesting a meeting to present the petition in person. The Vatican has not replied to the request.

The petition asks for Cunningham to be removed due to comments made about sex abuse in the church. Creators say he described victims as culpable in a deposition. The Syracuse diocese says that the bishop has repeatedly apologized for the words pulled from his deposition.

Diocese officials say the bishop has received little response from people in the diocese about the petition. They say a majority of the correspondence has been in the form of prayers and support.