MILWAUKEE (WI)
National Catholic Reporter
Marie Rohde | Dec. 2, 2014
Three priests are among those who have sent an open letter to Pope Francis asking for an investigation into the way victims of clergy sexual abuse have been treated by the Milwaukee archdiocese in its bankruptcy action.
“How they’ve handled it is just wrong,” said Fr. James Connell, a canon lawyer and retired priest.
“They have been hurting people by their actions. It is a moral issue as well as a legal issue. We are hopeful there will be an investigation.”
This is not the first time Connell has been involved in asking the Vatican to investigate misconduct by archdiocesan officials related to a clergy sex abuse scandal. In August, Connell wrote to the Vatican asking for an investigation of Bishop Richard Finn of the Kansas City-Saint Joseph diocese.
The intent of the bankruptcy proceeding for the Milwaukee archdiocese is “to exhaust, silence and slander victims/survivors as well as to serve as a warning to others,” the letter asserts and lists six points to justify papal intervention:
* Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki directed the church attorney to file for Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court saying that the action “would provide a means to compensate victims/survivors with unresolved claims while allowing the archdiocese to continue its essential ministries.” No eligibility requirements were listed.
* The archdiocese “went to great effort and expense” to find victim/survivors. “Indeed, the bankruptcy claims process seemed inviting, not restrictive; it created hope for justice and healing.”
* About 575 claims of abuse were filed with the court.
* In 2013 it came to light that in 2007, then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan, now cardinal of New York, had transferred about $57 million into a trust fund for the perpetual care of nine cemeteries saying in a letter to the Vatican that the intent was “to provide improved protection of these funds from “any legal claim and liability.” That scandalized Catholics and non-Catholics, the letter stated. Earlier this year, the archdiocese objected to all of the claims based on sex abuse, saying none had merit, but said it would be willing to compensate 125 claimants “only because doing so would be less expensive than fighting these claims in court,” according to the letter.
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