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	Davenport Bishop Announces Retirement Associated Press, carried in Press-Citizen October 12, 2006 http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061012/NEWS01/61012001/1079 Davenport - The Vatican said Thursday it accepted the retirement of Bishop William Franklin, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport. Franklin, who took the diocese into bankruptcy this week as it faces dozens of lawsuits alleging priest sex abuse, sent a letter in May 2005 offering his resignation. He said age was a chief factor in his decision. Franklin turned 75 on May 3, 2005. Cannon law requires bishops to offer their resignation upon turning 75. He said in retirement he planned to stay in Davenport. The Vatican announced Thursday that Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation and appointed Monsignor Martin J. Amos, an auxiliary bishop in Cleveland, as Franklin's successor. The diocese includes 85 parishes and more than 102,000 members. Franklin was born in Parnell and educated at Loras College and Mt. St. Bernard Seminary and was ordained in 1956. He was ordained as a bishop in 1987 while serving at the Archdiocese in Dubuque before being appointed to replace Bishop Gerald O'Keefe in Davenport. Franklin led the diocese at some of its most difficult times, including a priest sex abuse scandal that led the diocese to settle 37 lawsuits against priests for $9 million. The lawsuits targeted the behavior of 11 priests accused of sexually assaulting children dating back to the 1950s and blamed church hierarchy for covering up those actions. In the weeks leading up to the settlement, Franklin threatened that the cost of fighting lawsuits in court or paying claims could force the diocese into bankruptcy. The diocese filed bankruptcy documents on Tuesday, becoming just the fourth Roman Catholic diocese in the United States to file bankruptcy. Franklin also has been instrumental in the controversial decision to demolish four historic churches in Clinton and building a new, multimillion dollar church on 23 acres on the edge of town.
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