MILWAUKEE (WI)
The Guardian (UK)
[Permission to transfer funds]
Associated Press in Milwaukee
guardian.co.uk, Monday 1 July 2013
The cardinal of the archdiocese of New York, in his former job, sought permission from the Vatican to move $57m into a trust for “improved protection” as the Milwaukee archdiocese prepared to file for bankruptcy amid dozens of claims by victims of clergy sex abuse, according to documents made public on Monday.
The Vatican granted the request of former Milwaukee archbishop Timothy Dolan, who is president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the nation’s most prominent Roman Catholic official.
Monday’s release of about 6,000 pages of documents has drawn national attention because of Dolan’s involvement.
His 2007 letter, and the Vatican’s response, were among the documents the archdiocese released as part of a deal reached in federal bankruptcy court between the archdiocese and clergy sex abuse victims suing it for fraud. Victims say the archdiocese transferred problem priests to new churches without warning parishioners and covered up priests’ crimes for decades.
Dolan has not been accused of transferring problem priests, and he took over as archbishop in Milwaukee in mid-2002, after many victims had already come forward. But there have been questions about his response to the crisis.
The victims’ attorneys have accused Dolan of trying to hide the $57m as the Milwaukee archdiocese planned for bankruptcy. The archdiocese denies those allegations.
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