CHARLESTON (WV)
Gazette Mail
March 11, 2019
By Rebecca Carballo
A investigation into alleged sexual and financial misconduct by former Catholic bishop Michael J. Bransfield has ended after five months, and the former leader of West Virginia’s Catholics faces more restrictions while waiting for the Vatican to respond.
In a statement issued Monday, Archibishop William E. Lori of Baltimore said the investigation results have been sent to the Holy See. Lori was appointed to temporarily take Bransfield’s place at the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston when Bransfield’s retirement and the investigation were announced in September.
“Pending the assessment of the findings of the Holy See, as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, I have directed that Bishop Bransfield is not authorized to exercise any priestly or episcopal ministry within the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston,” Lori said in Monday’s statement. “I have further directed the Diocese to implement a third-party reporting system for any sexual or financial impropriety on the part of its bishop, clergy, religious and lay employees and volunteers.”
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