NEW YORK
NY1
By: Jon Weinstein
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York says he worked to end a clergy sex abuse scandal and removed abusive priests when he was the leader of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, but critics say thousands of pages of material released by the archdiocese on Monday prove the exact opposite. NY1’s Jon Weinstein filed the following report.
Thousands of pages of depositions, documents and letters have been released, revealing how Cardinal Timothy Dolan handled the fallout from a sexual abuse scandal when he was the top Catholic Church official in Milwaukee.
Before dozens of claims of abuse by priests led the Archdiocese to file for bankruptcy, then-Archbishop Dolan sought permission from the Vatican to move $57 million meant for cemetery care into a newly created trust separate from the archdiocese’s general funds.
In a 2007 letter seeking permission from the Vatican, which he ultimately got, Dolan writes, “By transferring these assets to the Trust, I foresee an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability.”
“We see very clearly in the letter that the primary concern was with the legal claims that they were facing, and growing number of legal claims by victims of sexual abuse,” said Pam Spees of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
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