Weakland: Economy and Catholic Social Teaching

On Friday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel saw fit to publish the opinions of the disgraced former Archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland.

Retired Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland, who led the drafting of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ 1986 pastoral letter “Economic Justice for All,” comments on the bishops’ failure to draft a new letter this week, in Commonweal magazine.

Meeting in Baltimore this week, the bishops could not come up with enough votes to pass an economic letter titled "The Hope of the Gospel in Difficult Times," which some bishops criticized for ignoring the roots of the current economic crisis and not suggesting solutions provided by Catholic social teaching, according to coverage of the bishops' conference from the Religion News Service.

...He offers a history of Catholic social teaching on economic justice and explores the myriad factors that would shape any new statement today. Weakland says, in part:

“Almost every aspect of human life is touched by economic concerns.

“As markets have become increasingly international and interdependent, economic questions have become more complicated and more difficult to answer. But that does not mean we can just sit back and let market forces determine our future. Rather, we should continue to reflect on the values of solidarity that the church has begun to inculcate—even if that virtue demands we make sacrifices that might force us to re-evaluate aspects of our American lifestyle. In short, we must become truly Catholic."

Weakland was archbishop of Milwaukee from 1977 to 2002.

Why is Weakland cited as an authority on Catholic teaching of any sort?

Although the article notes that "Weakland was archbishop of Milwaukee from 1977 to 2002," it makes no mention of the scandal that caused him to retire in disgrace. It makes no mention of the hundreds of thousands of dollars that southeastern Wisconsin Catholics indirectly and unknowingly paid in hush money to his lover, Paul Marcoux; nor does it mention the untold amount of money spent on legal bills.

We are supposed to value Weakland's comments on economic issues, but there is no mention of his role in the child abuse scandal that rocked the Church.

Weakland preaches that we may need to "make sacrifices that might force us to re-evaluate aspects of our American lifestyle. In short, we must become truly Catholic."

I'm sorry. Given Weakland's history here as archbishop, the scandal and his astronomical failures as a Church leader, I don't think it's right for the Journal Sentinel to present his judgment on the actions of Catholic Bishops of the United States without providing the reader with information about his background.

Why does the Journal Sentinel cut the disgraced Weakland so much slack?

"We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature."

--REMBERT WEAKLAND

Elmo Puppeteer: Accuser Recants Sex Allegations

It seems everybody is happy.

Kevin Clash, Elmo puppeteer, is no longer accused of having a sexual relationship with a minor.

And the unnamed accuser has suddenly recalled that the sexual relationship he had with Clash happened when he was an adult, not when he was 16.

Gee, what caused his memory to clear up so dramatically?

From TMZ:

The man who claims he had a sexual relationship with Kevin Clash -- the voice of Elmo -- is RECANTING his story ... claiming he WAS an adult during their relationship after all.

The accuser's lawyer just released a statement saying, "[The accuser] wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship. [The accuser] will have no further comment."

It's unclear why the accuser suddenly changed his story ... but sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... the accuser's attorney had been meeting with Clash's attorney as recent as an hour ago, discussing a financial settlement and 6-figures were on the table.

From Reuters:

The unnamed man, now 23, had claimed that Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash had a sexual relationship with him when the accuser was 16 years old, potentially engulfing one of the biggest childhood brands in an underage sex scandal.

"He wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship," the law firm Andreozzi and Associates, who represent the man, told U.S. media outlets in a statement.

Clash, 52, who had denied the allegations, said in a statement obtained by Reuters on Tuesday: "I am relieved that this painful allegation has been put to rest. I will not discuss it further."

..."We are pleased that this matter has been brought to a close, and we are happy that Kevin can move on from this unfortunate episode," Sesame Workshop said in a statement on Tuesday.

Andreozzi and Associates "represented some of the people victimized by Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky."

The firm seeks "maximum recovery for victims of sexual abuse." On its website, it promises "Multimillion dollar results - Big firm experience - Small firm attention."

According to TMZ, "6-figures were on the table." Not exactly multimillion dollar results.

Whatever, the settlement was enough for the accuser to agree to have his lawyers issue a statement recanting his previous claim of underage sex with Clash.

It's amazing what money can buy.

So, was the Elmo puppeteer a victim or the victimizer in the case?

Who knows? The scandal is over. Those involved will be quiet, at least for now.

Sometimes accusers return. Disgraced Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland paid his lover, Paul Marcoux, $450,000 in hush money to stay silent about their affair.

Marcoux resurfaced 20 years later and Weakland was exposed. Catholics in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee learned how their money was spent. It was a mess.

The difference there was Marcoux didn't go public at the time of the original shakedown, the way Clash's accuser did.

Clash already has been publicly smeared. I think the accuser got all he's going to get.

Of course, he could write a tell-all book.

Weakland, Easter, TMJ4 and WTMJ

Contrary to a repeated report on TMJ4, the disgraced former archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland, did NOT say Mass at the Cathedral on Easter Sunday.

On Sunday night, we had the Channel 4 10:00 PM news on, without the volume. A family member pointed out that Weakland was shown saying Mass. I said it was Bishop Richard Sklba, not Weakland, that Sklba now had a beard. And we moved on.

Then, Monday afternoon, Mark Belling spent much of the first hour of his radio program ripping on the Milwaukee Archdiocese for allowing the disgraced Weakland to concelebrate Easter Sunday Mass with Bishop Richard Sklba at the Cathedral.

I was stunned. It was Weakland. I assumed by the time I looked at the screen I had missed him. I was going to be sure to tell my family member that Weakland did, in fact, celebrate Mass at the Cathedral on Easter. How could the Archdiocese make such an inappropriate choice of celebrants?

Callers to Belling's show weighed in, condemning the Milwaukee Archdiocese for permitting Weakland to say Mass on Easter at such a prominent place.

The discussion also included concern about Weakland's portrait being displayed along with other Archbishops of Milwaukee, as well as the building bearing Weakland's name, the Archbishop Weakland Center, which houses the archdiocesan cathedral offices in downtown Milwaukee.

There still is a lot of hostility toward Weakland. I completely understand it. What he did was such a betrayal. He left the Milwaukee Archdiocese in shambles. Catholics in southeastern Wisconsin are still struggling with the fall-out from Weakland's failings today.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Weakland's successor, helped us to heal and move forward. What a blessing!

Belling stayed on the topic until Milwaukee Archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski called in to say Weakland did NOT celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at the Cathedral.

Belling had to apologize for not checking the facts of TMJ4's report.

Although the discussion was about a non-story, it did reveal how some Catholics in the area react to Weakland. It also revealed how poorly the news media do their jobs.

TMJ4 was wrong in its reporting. Richard Sklba was incorrectly identified as Weakland. Apparently, they think any old priest at the Cathedral with a white beard must be Weakland.

The story ran on TV on Sunday and on TMJ4's Monday morning news. It was posted online on the 620 WTMJ website at 7:30 AM. It was also on TMJ4's website.





The story:

Former Archbishop Weakland says Easter Mass in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE - A retired Milwaukee Archbishop came back to the cathedral he called home for many years to say Easter Mass.

Former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland presided over one of the Sunday Masses at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

Auxillary Bishop Richard Sklba joined him.

Inexcusably, this untrue story and video remained on TMJ4's site for HOURS after Belling's rant began. HOURS!

The video was still online after 10:00 PM on Monday.

This video link may not work much longer, but here it is:



Transcript

MELISSA McCRADY: Christians around the world and in Milwaukee celebrated Easter Sunday. Easter commemorates the Christian belief in Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland and Auxiliary Bishop Richard Sklba presided over Sunday Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

It seems the TMJ4 news team thinks Sklba is Weakland in this image and the other priest is Sklba. Not good.

I don't blame McCrady for reading what was fed to her on the teleprompter. I assume she wasn't responsible for the reporting.

What's really unbelievable is that TMJ4 and WTMJ were so slow to remove the inaccurate story from their websites.

Terribly embarrassing.

Unfortunately, it's not surprising that the outlets ran the factually false report.

Very shoddy journalism.

Weakland Signs Walker Recall Petition

Rembert Weakland, the disgraced former archbishop of Milwaukee, wants Scott Walker out of office.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

So much for separation of church and state.

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki has already spoken out on the effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker, telling WITI-TV (Channel 6) that he respects the first-term Republican and opposes the attempt to oust him.

“You have a recall when you have corruption, you have clearly something that's done that's illegal," Listecki said. "If there was something which was morally detrimental to society, I think you do that.

"Otherwise," he continued, "you have an election, you live with an election for four years, and you vote the person out of office.”

How utterly lame to write, "So much for separation of church and state."

Members of the clergy do have the right to vote and sign petitions.

Moreover, Archbishop Listecki "spoke out" on the recall when he was asked about the matter during a WITI interview.

The Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice makes it sound like Archbishop Listecki is campaigning for Walker. That's absolutely false. He gave an honest answer. That has nothing to do with the government infringing on the practice of religion or the government establishment of a religion.

Now comes word that one of Listecki's predecessors has come out in favor of a recall election for Walker, the son of a Baptist minister.

Former Archbishop Rembert Weakland, who stepped down in 2002 at the age of 75, confirmed to No Quarter that he signed a recall petition on Nov. 22 but declined further comment.

"I'll just leave it at that," he said last week as he left a daytime performance of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He lists a Milwaukee apartment as his address on the recall petition.

Weakland resigned as archbishop amid revelations that he had used church money to pay a $450,000 settlement to a man with whom he had had a relationship years earlier.

Weakland signed the petition.

Of course, he did. He's a Leftist, among other things.

In his June 2008 deposition, Weakland said some appalling things, chilling, creepy things.

Anyway, Weakland, the victimizer, agrees with the anti-Scott Walker proponents.

I'm not surprised at all.



"We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature."

--REMBERT WEAKLAND

Timothy Dolan: Cardinal

The former leader of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, will be named a Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.

This was expected, given that Archbishop Dolan replaced Cardinal Edward M. Egan to lead the Archdiocese of New York. It was only a matter of time.



From FOX6 News:

Timothy Dolan, a former Milwaukee Archbishop, is among the new 22 Cardinals named by Pope Benedict. Dolan was the Archbishop in Milwaukee from 2002-2009, now Dolan is the Archbishop of New York.

Dolan is one of the most prominant ones on the list, others are from Brazil, Spain, Canada, Protugal, Germany, Czech Republic, China, Romania, Belguim, India, Malta, Romania, and the Netherlands.

Eighteen of the new Cardinals are under the age of 80, this means they will be eligible to enter a secret conclave. The Red-Hatted "Princes of the Church" are the Pope's closets aids, and will one day choose his successor.

I wonder if Archbishop Dolan would like the nickname "Prince."

Here's video, from FOX6:

 

From the New York Times:

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, who has led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York for nearly three years, will be named a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican announced on Friday.

The Archdiocese of New York is widely considered the spiritual heart of the American church. It counts about 2.6 million Catholics in a sprawling jurisdiction that includes includes Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and several suburban counties.

“As a kid, I just wanted to be a parish priest,” the cardinal-designate said in an early morning news conference at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan. “And to think that now the pope has named me a cardinal— that’s awesome.”

...One person, however, was ready for the news: Archbishop Dolan’s mother, Shirley, whom he called after receiving the news from the Vatican’s representative in Washington on Thursday morning.

“She said it’s about time,” the archbishop said, laughing. “Only moms can say that. ”

Archbishop Dolan, 61, who was born in Missouri and headed the archdiocese of Milwaukee before coming to New York, is highly respected among his fellow prelates, and he serves as the elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Archbishop Dolan deserves this appointment.

He's a very special man. He can express the abstract and the spiritual in concrete terms that are both understandable and inspiring.

Archbishop Dolan was a great gift to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

He touched the lives of so many people in southeastern Wisconsin.

We were blessed to have him here to guide us through that very difficult period of scandal, including the shocking misdeeds of Archbishop Rembert Weakland. Although I was so disillusioned, I credit Archbishop Dolan for helping restore my confidence in the Church. No small task.

My first impression of him, back in 2002, was that he really loves what he does. That never changed. One of the things that I found most endearing about Archbishop Dolan was the way he wanted to be involved in the lives of his flock on a very personal level. He wasn't aloof or cold. He shared in our joys and sorrows.

I was blessed to know the depth and sincerity of his compassion. I'll always be grateful.

Although he left Milwaukee in 2009, he left a lasting legacy here in our hearts.

Congratulations, Archbishop Dolan!

Ricky Martin: Gay

I'm shocked, shocked to find that Ricky Martin is gay!

Ricky Martin is no longer denying the rumors: He's gay.

In a statement posted via Twitter in both Spanish and English, and later confirmed with his representative, Martin said: "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am."

For many, Monday's announcement will come as no surprise; the "Livin' La Vida Loca" singer's sexuality has been speculated about for years. But the Puerto Rican star, who got his start as a child in the teen group Menudo, never directly addressed it and was usually seen at events with beautiful women on his arm.

Martin, 38, said he decided to reveal the truth after working on his memoirs helped him realize that he had to be free with himself, and not keep any more secrets.

"From the moment I wrote the first phrase I was sure the book was the tool that was going to help me free myself from things I was carrying within me for a long time. Things that were too heavy for me to keep inside," he said. "Writing this account of my life, I got very close to my truth. And this is something worth celebrating."

So Ricky Martin is officially out and he says it's something worth celebrating.

Woo hoo!

Let's celebrate!

I haven't wanted to celebrate like this since Rembert Weakland made it official in his memoir and announced that he was gay!

Fr. Lawrence Murphy

UPDATE, April 22, 2010: Murphy assault victim sues Pope Benedict in Milwaukee federal court.
_____________________

This Sunday is Palm Sunday.

Catholics are beginning their observance of Holy Week.

What does that mean?

It's time for those interested in smearing the Church to step up their efforts.

Leftist media outlets often do stories that attack Christians and Christianity during this holiest time of the year for believers.

For example, last year, Ed Meacham, Newsweek, recognized Holy Week with this cover story: "The End of Christian America."

Groups like Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) get extra busy, too.

Stories that put the Church in a bad light abound.

This year, we have the story of the abuses of Fr. Lawrence Murphy, a priest who molested up to 200 boys during the 1950s through the 1970s at St. John's School for the Deaf in St. Francis, Wisconsin.

An additional punch: Critics are holding Pope Benedict XVI directly responsible for failing to defrock Murphy when the case was brought to the attention of the Vatican in 1996.

Note: I'm disgusted that the media and activist groups exploit Holy Week like this. It happens every year. However, that disgust pales in comparison to my disgust for the abusive priests and the failure of the Church hierarchy to treat them as criminals.

As a Catholic, I am sickened by how the cases of child sexual abuse by priests in the Milwaukee Archdiocese were handled by the Church. It makes me ill.

The New York Times has the story.

Top Vatican officials — including the future Pope Benedict XVI — did not defrock a priest who molested as many as 200 deaf boys, even though several American bishops repeatedly warned them that failure to act on the matter could embarrass the church, according to church files newly unearthed as part of a lawsuit.

The internal correspondence from bishops in Wisconsin directly to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope, shows that while church officials tussled over whether the priest should be dismissed, their highest priority was protecting the church from scandal.

The documents emerge as Pope Benedict is facing other accusations that he and direct subordinates often did not alert civilian authorities or discipline priests involved in sexual abuse when he served as an archbishop in Germany and as the Vatican’s chief doctrinal enforcer.

The Wisconsin case involved an American priest, the Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy, who worked at a renowned school for deaf children from 1950 to 1974. But it is only one of thousands of cases forwarded over decades by bishops to the Vatican office called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, led from 1981 to 2005 by Cardinal Ratzinger. It is still the office that decides whether accused priests should be given full canonical trials and defrocked.

In 1996, Cardinal Ratzinger failed to respond to two letters about the case from Rembert G. Weakland, Milwaukee’s archbishop at the time. After eight months, the second in command at the doctrinal office, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, now the Vatican’s secretary of state, instructed the Wisconsin bishops to begin a secret canonical trial that could lead to Father Murphy’s dismissal.

But Cardinal Bertone halted the process after Father Murphy personally wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger protesting that he should not be put on trial because he had already repented and was in poor health and that the case was beyond the church’s own statute of limitations.

“I simply want to live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood,” Father Murphy wrote near the end of his life to Cardinal Ratzinger. “I ask your kind assistance in this matter.” The files contain no response from Cardinal Ratzinger.

The New York Times obtained the documents, which the church fought to keep secret, from Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan, the lawyers for five men who have brought four lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The documents include letters between bishops and the Vatican, victims’ affidavits, the handwritten notes of an expert on sexual disorders who interviewed Father Murphy and minutes of a final meeting on the case at the Vatican.

Father Murphy not only was never tried or disciplined by the church’s own justice system, but also got a pass from the police and prosecutors who ignored reports from his victims, according to the documents and interviews with victims. Three successive archbishops in Wisconsin were told that Father Murphy was sexually abusing children, the documents show, but never reported it to criminal or civil authorities.

The Times paints the liberal and the disgraced Archbishop Rembert Weakland as eventually trying to do the right thing, but his efforts were in vain.

What a great guy, struggling to protect children and prevent further abuse!

Sure.

In 1993, with complaints about Father Murphy landing on his desk, Archbishop Weakland hired a social worker specializing in treating sexual offenders to evaluate him. After four days of interviews, the social worker said that Father Murphy had admitted his acts, had probably molested about 200 boys and felt no remorse.

However, it was not until 1996 that Archbishop Weakland tried to have Father Murphy defrocked. The reason, he wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger, was to defuse the anger among the deaf and restore their trust in the church. He wrote that since he had become aware that “solicitation in the confessional might be part of the situation,” the case belonged at the doctrinal office.

With no response from Cardinal Ratzinger, Archbishop Weakland wrote a different Vatican office in March 1997 saying the matter was urgent because a lawyer was preparing to sue, the case could become public and “true scandal in the future seems very possible.”

...In an interview, Archbishop Weakland said that he recalled a final meeting at the Vatican in May 1998 in which he failed to persuade Cardinal Bertone and other doctrinal officials to grant a canonical trial to defrock Father Murphy. (In 2002, Archbishop Weakland resigned after it became public that he had an affair with a man and used church money to pay him a settlement.)

Archbishop Weakland said this week in an interview, “The evidence was so complete, and so extensive that I thought he should be reduced to the lay state, and also that that would bring a certain amount of peace in the deaf community.”

The New York Times does acknowledge that Weakland had a scandal of his own, but it's just mentioned in passing, almost as an afterthought, as if it's insignificant.

Weakland paid his former lover nearly $500,000 in hush money. That's huge. As a member of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, that's my money. I paid to keep Weakland's paramour, Paul Marcoux, quiet. Needless to say, Marcoux didn't stay quiet.

The story also leaves out the disgraceful way Weakland dealt with many of the sexual abuse case. He was no champion of the abuse victims at all.

In his memoir, Weakland wrote, "We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature."

That is impossible for me to believe. The brilliant Weakland didn't know that molesting children was a crime? The brilliant Weakland didn't know that molesting children was a criminal offense.

Yeah, right.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The Vatican on Thursday defended its decision not to defrock a Wisconsin priest accused of sexually assaulting as many as 200 deaf boys from the 1950s to the 1970s and denounced what it called a "despicable" attempt to smear Pope Benedict XVI and his aides.

But Wisconsin advocates for victims of clergy sex abuse suggested the Vatican's handling of the case involving Father Lawrence Murphy - and revelations on similar cases in Europe - provide evidence of an institutional coverup that spanned decades and continents.

"We are finally able to get this where we believe it belongs, and that's at the Vatican's doorstep," Mark Salmon of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said at a Thursday morning news conference outside the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's headquarters.

More:

"He likes to position himself as a critic of the Vatican, the one bishop who stood up to challenge the system," SNAP Midwest Director Peter Isely said of Weakland, in releasing the documents outside the archdiocese's Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

"He never once stood up against the system when it came to the molestation and rape of boys" by Murphy at St. John School for the Deaf in St. Francis, where Murphy worked for two decades, Isely said.

That doesn't seem to fit with the New York Times account, does it?

Weakland is no hero.

I also think that it's a stretch to blame Pope Benedict for how things were handled in the Milwaukee Archdiocese.

What boggles my mind is why the victims' parents didn't call police. How could hundreds of acts of molestation go unreported? It surprises me that not one parent went to police to report the rape of his or her child. Not one!

Or if a parent did report it to civil authorities, did police ignore the crime?

I don't know why it took so many decades for the abuse to be revealed to the public.

The sexual assault of a child is a crime. The person who committed the act is a criminal and deserves to be punished. This isn't a gray area.

SNAP's goal is clear as well. I think the group equates justice for victims with taking down the Catholic Church.

"We are finally able to get this where we believe it belongs, and that's at the Vatican's doorstep," Mark Salmon of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said at a Thursday morning news conference outside the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's headquarters.

In this case, justice looks more like revenge to me.

Video, FOX 6 News.

Glenn Grothman and Rembert Weakland

Yesterday during a public hearing on a bill lifting the statute of limitations on civil actions against child sexual abusers, Glenn Grothman had some harsh words for Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki and Rembert Weakland, former archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend), who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, expressed skepticism about the bill but grilled Listecki about the church's handling of past abuse cases and questioned why former Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland appeared with Listecki when Listecki was installed as archbishop last week.

Weakland has admitted in a memoir and court depositions that he shielded abusive priests.

"Isn't (honoring Weakland) really a poke in the eye to all those people who suffered so horribly?" Grothman said.

Listecki said Weakland's handling of abuse cases was flawed, but the church has changed its practices since then.

From the Associated Press:

A state senator is calling former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland a "piece of work."

Sen. Glenn Grothman, a West Bend Republican, made the remarks during a hearing on a bill that would eliminate the statute of limitations on civil actions against child sexual abusers.

Weakland resigned as archbishop in 2002 after admitting the archdiocese secretly paid $450,000 to a man who accused him of sexual abuse.

Grothman called Weakland "just a piece of work. Unbelievable." Moments later Grothman referred to church officials who allowed Weakland to attend Listecki's installation Mass as "screwballs."

Weakland did not immediately return an e-mail seeking a response. Milwaukee Archdiocese Chief of Staff Jerry Topczewski said Weakland is still a part of the church.

Grothman sounded unprofessional. His choice of words made him come off as kind of screwy.

That said, I agree with the gist of Grothman's comments. I think it was a mistake for Weakland to attend Listecki's installation. Allowing him to be part of it implies the Church's endorsement of Weakland.

Of course, the Catholic Church is about forgiveness and redemption, complicating the situation with Weakland when it comes to his public role.

The problem I have with Weakland is that I don't think he has taken full responsibility for his wrongdoing. One has to fully acknowledge one's sinfulness before being forgiven.

From the Associated Press:

Former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland says he handled sex abuse cases as best he could.

Weakland sent an e-mail to The Associated Press responding to state Sen. Glenn Grothman’s remarks at a hearing Tuesday. The West Bend Republican called Weakland a "piece of work" and church officials "screwballs" for allowing Weakland to attend new Archbishop Jerome Listecki’s installation Mass last week.

In his e-mail Weakland apologizes for any sexual abuse. He says he did his best with the cases with the knowledge and experience he had. He says God will be his judge.

No.

Weakland did not do the best he could. I don't buy that.

Regarding the sexual abuse scandal, Weakland said:

"We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature."

That's ridiculous. It's absurd.

No adult as educated as Weakland can be that clueless.

The way he attempts to dodge his responsibility for his actions as a church leader is extremely troubling. His current behavior remains a problem.

Weakland is right. God will judge him. In the meantime, society and the Church must judge him.

We have morals. We have laws. As a society, we maintain order by upholding our beliefs of what is right and wrong. We don't pass off our own responsibility to judge and seek justice on to God.

We do it.

We should do it. As people of God, aren't we expected to do that?

We don't sit back and watch in silence when we see a wrong. Silence serves to condone wrongful acts.

Weakland can be forgiven. We're all imperfect. We all want mercy, but we must account for what we've done.

I think giving Weakland a PUBLIC presence in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is failing to hold Weakland accountable. His transgressions were so egregious that he should have no PUBLIC role in the Archdiocese.

Simply put, Weakland's presence prevents healing.

Isn't it strange that Weakland thinks he can hang around and be accepted and admired? He and his supporters act as if it's wrong to acknowledge his misdeeds.

This is the same man who was in the business of secretly shifting sexually abusive priests from parish to parish to protect abusers rather than protect innocents from harm. He obviously didn't think that being open about the abuse was the way to go. He correctly assessed that parishioners wouldn't accept the offenders.

So why does he think we would or should accept him?

Weakland: Bronze Statue at Cathedral

On the website of the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, one can take a virtual tour of the cathedral.

Welcome to the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on Cathedral Square in downtown Milwaukee!

In a major renovation concluded in 2002, the Cathedral building and its liturgical furnishings, objects and art were fashioned and placed to reflect the liturgical theology stemming from the Second Vatican Council. This renovation, renewal and restoration of our Cathedral will have succeeded if it has stirred up in you an appreciation for the beauty of the Catholic Church in action as well as the beauty of the buildings that house the Church.

Including the home page and the concluding "thank you" page, the virtual tour consists of 23 pages.

While informative, offering images of highlights of the 2002 renovation, the tour is very brief and very limited in scope.

It's also outdated. The tour was put together while Rembert Weakland was still serving as archbishop.

That's clear from the information on the page about the crypt. It states, "Nine archbishops have served the Archdiocese of Milwaukee."

Of course, Weakland was the ninth. Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Archbishop Jerome Listecki are the tenth and eleventh respectively.

I find it interesting that as part of the renovation completed in 2002, a bronze shrine dedicated to Mary, the Blessed Mother, includes the image of Weakland.

This was a newly-commissioned work of art at the time.

It's the definition of "hubris."

From the virtual tour:

Mary, Mother of the Church



This shrine is dedicated to the Blessed Mother under her title, “The Mother of the Church.” In the shrine is a newly-commissioned bronze statue of the Blessed Mother. On a pedestal is a bas relief featuring people from a number of the ethnic and cultural communities that make up the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The statue and pedestal are the work of Chicago artists Jeffrey and Anna Koh-Varilla. This shrine portrays Mary as the mother of everyone in the Church.

Above and to the left is a round stained-glass window dedicated to Pius XII (not pictured), pope at the time of the reconstruction of the cathedral after the 1935 fire.

What this description doesn't note is that Weakland himself is depicted.

In this detail of the plaque below the statue, Weakland is seen at the far left.



Even though the artwork has stood in the cathedral since 2002, it has only recently generated controversy.

SNAP, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, just learned about it. Now, it is demanding that the image of Weakland be removed from the cathedral, along with another statue, a bust of Weakland.

Video, from WISN:



From FOX 6 News:

"I couldn't believe it. That this was a practical joke that this was someone joking about this.", says SNAP Rep Peter Isley. The joke Isley is talking about is this statue. It has an image of former Archbishop Rembert Weakland.

Isley, a member of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests(SNAP), says Weakland's image should not be the Cathedral of St. John. The statue, as well as a bust of Weakland stands in the Cathedral of St. John. Weakland left his position in 2002 after admitting to a sexual relationship with a seminary student decades earlier. Isley says,"this is an individual responsible for transferring, concealing and moving dozens of priests who sexually assaulted raped young children and immortalized himself in bronze."

Isley wants Milwaukee's newest Archbishop, Jerome Listecki, to respond. Isley says, "This is an altar that people kneel to."

Weakland himself will be back at St. John Tuesday speaking to 80 others in the Catholic ministry, sharing expertise about Cathedral renovations.

FOX 6 asked Archbishop Weakland if he would give a reflection as to his mindset at the time of the renovation that motivated the renovation of the cathedral. As for the statues, Father Carl says Weakland's image represents the head of the local archdiocese at the time. Father Carl says, "I don't see a need to modify it. I think I've explained the intent of it and the focus of it. If some individual wants to say he doesn't see it that way it's his problem."

...In a statement released by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Wednesday afternoon, it says they are working towards healing and resolution with victims.

I admit that I was taken aback by the plaque at the statue of Mary.

Had Weakland been a saint while he served as archbishop I still wouldn't think it proper for him to agree to commissioning a shrine to Mary that would include his own image.

There's an arrogance in that act that is rather shocking.

The fact that Weakland was such a disgrace in his personal sexual misconduct and in the way he handled the wider sexual abuse scandal in the archdiocese makes the display more disturbing.

I can understand why SNAP considers it inappropriate. I agree on that count.

However, I do get the impression sometimes that SNAP isn't about healing for victims and accountability for the guilty as much as it is about tearing down the Church.

The group attacked Archbishop Listecki before he was installed, not exactly a good approach to achieve resolution. They exhibit so little patience and almost an unwillingness to accept some reconciliation. The new archbishop has so many adjustments to make. At this early stage, I think SNAP is being unreasonable in its demands on Listecki. They should give him a chance.

As far as the artwork of Weakland in the cathedral goes, he did serve as Milwaukee's archbishop for 25 years. His presence should be noted along with the other archbishops. I think he should be included among the portraits.

Stained Glass and
Episcopal Portraits

Episcopal Portraits: Above these windows can be seen the portraits of all the archbishops of Milwaukee. With the removal of the lanterns, we are now able to see the portraits of the Archbishops who have served this Archdiocese. From front to back on the north side are Henni, Katzer, Stritch, Meyer, Weakland and from the front to back on the south side are Heiss, Messmer, Kiley, and Cousins.

I can handle a portrait of Weakland, but I do have difficulty accepting the statues.

It's painful to see them because his misdeeds as archbishop were so egregious and so shocking. I can't see Weakland without his unconscionable actions coming to mind.

Weakland left the Archdiocese of Milwaukee severely wounded. Some of the faithful have healed, but some aren't there yet. I think it would be helpful for people to show understanding and respect for others when it comes to the fallout from the scandals.

Bottom line: Weakland's legacy is a part of the Archdiocese's history. Taking artwork away isn't going to change that. If only it could be that easy.

Jerome Listecki and Rembert Weakland

Milwaukee's Archbishop-designate Jerome E. Listecki will be installed this afternoon, becoming the 11th archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Video.

The installation of Bishop Jerome E. Listecki as archbishop of Milwaukee began Sunday night with Vespers at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist and continues today with the installation Mass.

Schedule of Events:

1:20 p.m. Procession of civic and ecumenical leaders, followed shortly after by deacons, clergy, bishops, abbots and concelebrants, including former Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, now archbishop of New York.

2 p.m. The Knights of Columbus honor guard will lead Archbishop-designate Listecki; local bishops; the Apostolic Nuncio or papal ambassador to the United States and others into the Cathedral's nave.

During the Mass: The Nuncio, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, will read Pope Benedict XVI's letter appointing Listecki as Archbishop of Milwaukee. Listecki will be led to the marble Cathedral, or archbishop's seat, where he will receive the bishop's staff known as the crosier.

Live streaming video, from TMJ 4.

Former Archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland, will be attending the installation.

That's awkward.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 15, 2009:

In the early years of the sex abuse scandal in Milwaukee, retired Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland says in his soon-to-be released memoir, he did not comprehend the potential harm to victims or understand that what the priests had done constituted a crime.

"We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature," Weakland says in the book, "A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church," due out in June.

Inexcusable.

I wonder if Weakland hopes this public appearance will help him sell a few more copies of his book.

Then there's Weakland's sexual misconduct when he was the Archbishop of Milwaukee and the $450,000 of "ineffective" hush money paid out to his lover or victim or whatever, Paul Marcoux.

Very awkward.

I don't think that it's appropriate for the disgraced Weakland to be at the installation, given the circumstances of his departure and the way he conducted himself in his role as archbishop.

What Weakland did as Milwaukee's archbishop was such an incredible betrayal.

I'm not saying he shouldn't be forgiven, but I don't see how Weakland can walk with Milwaukee's other living former archbishop, Timothy Dolan.

Media coverage of Archbishop-designate Listecki and discussion of his predecessors has been embarrassingly incomplete.

From 620 WTMJ, December 1, 2009:

[M]ake no mistake that Bishop Listecki is excited to add the prefix "Arch" to his job title.

It was an about face by the Catholic Church when Pope John Paul II replaced more liberal Archbishop Rembert Weakland with the friendly, lovable but strict Archbishop Timothy Dolan.

Listecki is said to be cut from the same cloth, a more conservative, a "rules-are-rules" kind of guy.

"More liberal Archbishop Rembert Weakland"?

Is that what you call what Weakland did? Liberal? There's absolutely no mention of Weakland's scandal.

I look forward to Bishop Listecki becoming the leader of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. I'm glad he's cut from the same cloth as Archbishop Dolan.

Weakland: Staying in Milwaukee

Rembert Weakland, disgraced former archbishop of Milwaukee, had planned to leave Milwaukee to reside at St. Mary's Abbey in Morristown, New Jersey.

Those plans are off.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Retired Milwaukee Catholic Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland has decided not to move to an East Coast abbey this summer, though he and the head of the monastery on Tuesday offered differing explanations of the decision.

"Differing explanations"?

Why am I not surprised?

Weakland said he rescinded his plans to move to St. Mary's Abbey in Morristown, N.J., on May 18 after Abbot Giles Hayes expressed concerns about his presence in the wake of a New York Times story recounting revelations in his forthcoming memoir.

"It seemed evident to me that they thought my presence there might be a negative element for the school and monastery," said Weakland, who discusses his homosexuality and his handling of clergy sex abuse in the book, "A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church," which is due out this month.

St. Mary's is home to Delbarton School, a prestigious boys college preparatory school operated by the Benedictine monks of St. Mary's, about 35 miles from Manhattan.

So Weakland said he didn't feel wanted.

Giles, who is the former headmaster of the school, said Weakland changed his plans without explanation a week earlier, and that he had no reason to believe controversy surrounding the book played a role.

Weakland said that the day he sent the e-mail offering his withdrawal, the Benedictine community was scheduled to meet to discuss concerns about his move.

"I put in the option that I would withdraw if it was a problem," he said.

Given Weakland's delusional behavior and his propensity to lie, I think it's more likely that Giles Hayes' version of the story is closer to the truth.

It seems like the thin-skinned Weakland wasn't satisfied with the way he was being treated.

What did he expect? Did he think they would pretend Weakland had no history?

I suppose the arrogant Weakland thought he could leave behind the negative baggage of his past, and he'd be embraced with open arms by the enlightened East Coast libs.

Perhaps he thought the people of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee were the problem. We were backward and bad and treating him unfairly. Maybe he thought people at St. Mary's Abbey in New Jersey wouldn't care at all about his affair and the $450,000 in hush money paid out by the archdiocese to his former lover. Maybe he thought they wouldn't be bothered by his failure to appropriately deal with sexually abusive priests guilty of preying on children.

If that's the case, how naive!

Weakland made the decision to write his tell-all memoir and cut a deal with the New York Times. That's not exactly the way to keep a low profile.

It's possible this whole thing is a publicity stunt.

The poor embattled Weakland! Rejected by his church!

That tactic might pay off in some sympathy sales of his book, but I don't think it would make much of a difference.

Weakland, 82, said he would remain in Milwaukee.

Wonderful.

Does that mean that we, people of the archdiocese, will fund his living expenses?

I'm not sure how the pensions work for retired priests. Would he be getting a check from Milwaukee wherever he lives?

If he doesn't like living in Milwaukee, there must be some abbey somewhere in the world that would suit him.

Whatever. The people of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee will be paying for Weakland's actions for years to come.

It bothers me that Weakland is attempting to be a sympathetic figure.

Weakland played it that way in 2002, when his affair was revealed to the public, and he's still doing the same thing -- He's acting like he's a victim.

He's not a victim.

Actions have consequences. Weakland needs to understand that and accept responsibility.

Weakland: What He Knew and When He Knew It

Disgraced former archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland, makes some ludicrous claims in his soon to be released memoir, A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church.

Weakland writes, "We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature."

That, of course, is idiotic.

Clergy sex abuse victims have responded to Weakland's outrageous statement.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Advocates for victims of Catholic clergy sex abuse on Monday released documents they say refute claims by retired Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland that he did not understand early on the criminal nature of the abuse or its long-term effects on victims.

They also disputed statements that he attempted to deal with pedophile priests but was thwarted by Vatican policy.

...The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests took issue with the claims, and on Monday released documents from a civil fraud case involving the late Father Lawrence Murphy, who is thought to have abused as many as 200 deaf children in the 1960s and '70s.

"He likes to position himself as a critic of the Vatican, the one bishop who stood up to challenge the system," SNAP Midwest Director Peter Isely said of Weakland, in releasing the documents outside the archdiocese's Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

"He never once stood up against the system when it came to the molestation and rape of boys" by Murphy at St. John School for the Deaf in St. Francis, where Murphy worked for two decades, Isely said.

...In his book, the retired archbishop says that in the 1970s, he "naively" accepted the notion that victims would either forget or "grow out of" the abuse. He blames the leniency shown by judges toward priests (and other professionals) in sex abuse cases for shaping his views on the perpetrators.

The documents released Monday include victim statements recounting their memories and anguish from as early as 1974; a reference to a 1974 review of allegations against Murphy by the Milwaukee County district attorney's office (no charges were filed because the statute of limitations had expired); and a letter showing Weakland was preoccupied - even after the priest's death in 1998 - with preserving his "good name."

In the letter to a nun explaining why he wanted a private funeral for Murphy, Weakland said: "So far, we have succeeded in preserving his reputation, and I hope we are able to do so in the future."

This is all so disturbing.

I suppose it's good in a way.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan did so much to rejuvenate and heal the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Because Archbishop Dolan was so exceptional, I think Weakland benefited. Southeastern Wisconsin Catholics could look forward and focus on the future, not looking back on Weakland's many, many disgraces.

Now, with the revelations of Weakland's memoir, his "moving confessional," it's clear that aspects of Weakland's tenure as archbishop need to be examined.

I don't want to revisit this chapter in the history of the Church in southeastern Wisconsin, but it hasn't been appropriately addressed.

Weakland's betrayal of Catholics throughout the region, his failure to adequately carry out his duties in a responsible and lawful and prayerful manner, and his failure to protect the children of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee cannot be ignored.

It's up to the faithful of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to not allow Weakland to get away with this travesty.

He's not a pilgrim. He's an enabler of child predators.

By transferring pedophile priests, known risks, to other parishes, he endangered innocents. He didn't care.

He knowingly covered up criminal behavior.

Through his book, Weakland is trying to construct a new reality to redeem himself; but he's actually revealing how screwed up his priorities are and how morally depraved he was and is.

Weakland remains in denial. Too many Catholics in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee also remain in denial when it comes to Weakland.

Weakland and "Criminal Nature"

Rembert Weakland, the disgraced former archbishop of Milwaukee, cannot be as clueless as he claims to be. He just can't.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

In the early years of the sex abuse scandal in Milwaukee, retired Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland says in his soon-to-be released memoir, he did not comprehend the potential harm to victims or understand that what the priests had done constituted a crime.

"We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature," Weakland says in the book, "A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church," due out in June.

What?

"No understanding of its criminal nature"?

That's ridiculous.

Weakland has been touted as a brilliant man, yet we're supposed to accept as valid his assertion that he had no understanding of the criminal nature of the sexual abuse of minors?

ABSURD.

..."It's beyond belief. He's either lying or he's so self-deceived that he's inventing fanciful stories," said Peter Isely, Midwest director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. "These have always been crimes."

It is absolutely beyond belief that Weakland didn't know sexually abusing a child is a crime.

...Weakland has declined to be interviewed by the Journal Sentinel. Weakland said in the book that he eventually came to question the notion that victims would forget or "grow out of" the trauma induced by abuse.

"My general reasoning was that there were probably some kids who 'grew out of it,' and then some who were deeply disturbed for life," he wrote.

SNAP this week issued an open letter asking Weakland to meet with victims.

Weakland responded Friday by saying he would seriously consider it.

"We've been trying to get this from him for 15 years," Isely said.

I am floored that Weakland would dare to claim that he wasn't aware of the criminal nature of the sexual abuse of minors.

He has to be lying. It's disgusting.

Publishers Weekly calls Weakland's book "a moving personal confession."

Based on that "criminal nature" statement alone, I think he needs to write a personal confession about his alleged personal confession.

Weakland simply cannot be believed.

And this man was the head of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee from 1977 to 2002. Talk about not being fit to serve!

I don't know what good it would do for Weakland to meet with the victims. He's positively dishonest or possibly clinically delusional.

But if that's what the victims want, then of course Weakland should agree. It shouldn't require any serious consideration on his part. He at least owes the victims a face-to-face meeting. That's not too much to ask.

After the confession, there usually are consequences.

The Weakland Book: Excerpts

Weakland's own words:

---"In handling these cases, I had accepted naively the common view that it was not necessary to worry about the effects on the youngsters: either they would not remember or would 'grow out of it.'"

---"The parents usually said they would take care of the child if I got the priest out of the area."

---"I never did understand why the [pedophile priest, William Effinger] involved was not the primary object of this anger, but the feeling was that the church had deceived them."

---"When in the summer of 1979 [Marquette graduate student Paul Marcoux] asked me to share an evening meal, I accepted. That evening ended in sexual touches that he later would call 'date rape.' Our sporadic relationship continued, for some months, while I kept closing my eyes to its conflict with my vow of celibacy, the sinfulness of it all..."

What a disgrace!

Weakland displays a stunning cluelessness, incredible immaturity, selfishness, and arrogance.

Weakland is NOT a victim.

Proceeds from Weakland's Book

Rembert Weakland claims that he'll be donating proceeds from his new book to charity.

Really?

I can't say that I trust him.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Retired Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland said Monday that he plans to donate the proceeds from sales of his forthcoming memoir to the Catholic Community Foundation, a local organization that funds programs in southeastern Wisconsin.

The memoir, "A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church," is due out in June. In it, the retired archbishop writes openly about his homosexuality and his failure to oversee pedophile priests, according to Publisher's Weekly, which called it "a moving personal confession."

...A spokesman for the archdiocese said Monday that it is unlikely to seek restitution of the funds paid out by Weakland from the book's profits because they were repaid previously by the retired archbishop and a group of supporters.

I don't get why Weakland feels the need to put his "moving personal confession" in print.

I assume he has received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Isn't that enough?

Has he spoken privately with those he harmed through his actions and his inactions?

Weakland talks about not wanting to go "Jerry Springer." If that's the case, then he shouldn't publicize his "personal confession."

Weakland's promise to give the proceeds from his book to the Catholic Community Foundation seems like little more than an effort on his part to sell more copies.

He's putting the word out that he's not trying to capitalize on his failures and weaknesses. In effect, the book is a fundraiser. Sure. Whatever.

What percent of the proceeds does Weakland plan to donate? Will he not make a dime off the book?

I'd like to know Weakland's definition of "proceeds."

Anyway, the fact that he says he's donating the book's proceeds to charity doesn't make the telling of his story any less distasteful.

...Weakland said he wrote in the memoir that he was unprepared for "how lonely it is" to be a bishop and how difficult it can be to get the "feedback and support you need," the AP reported.

Are any of us really prepared for what comes our way in life?

You don't have to be a celibate bishop to be lonely or have difficulty getting support. He's playing the victim card.

Is this memoir going to be a pity party?

Weakland said to the AP, "What I felt was that people who loved me as bishop here, when they read the book will continue to love me. The people who found it difficult, I hope will be helped a little bit by the book."

Weakland is approaching people's reactions to him and the revelations of his scandal in a very simplistic fashion, very black and white.

It's not as simple as dividing people into two groups -- those in his corner and those against him. He seems to be saying that the onus is on his detractors to learn to love him, as if they are the ones needing to be held accountable for bad behavior.

It sounds to me like Weakland feels entitled to forgiveness from those he hurt.

Furthermore, I find it hard to believe that "people who found it difficult" will be "helped a little bit by the book."

I doubt that they'll read it.

Weakland told the AP that Christians needed to speak more openly about gays in the priesthood without the "hysteria" that often characterizes the debate.

Clearly, Weakland has an agenda.

Maybe I'm out of the loop on this but I haven't witnessed "hysteria." I haven't been aware of any debates on gays in the priesthood.

A priest's sexual orientation is irrelevant, given the vow of celibacy. The same goes for nuns.

If a person commits to a religious order, he doesn't commit partially.

I don't know what kind of openness on gays in the priesthood Weakland is looking for.

Does he believe that priests should declare to parishioners whether they're straight or gay? Why do that? Who cares?

I have some sympathy for Weakland. He's 82 years old and he appears to be so confused.

Bottom line: Weakland seems to want to be forgiven without making any apologies.

Weakland is Gay

This comes as absolutely no surprise to Catholics in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, as well as others in southeastern Wisconsin.

Former Archbishop of Milwaukee Rembert Weakland is gay.

That's no big deal. What was a big deal was that Weakland was dating and had a relationship with a man in the late '70s and early '80s. This was while he was the Archbishop of Milwaukee.

The Archdiocese paid out half a million dollars in hush money to his lover, Paul Marcoux, in 1998.

Then, Marcoux wanted more money. Eventually, in 2002, when the scandal erupted publicly, I found out that Weakland had an active social and sexual life.

Marcoux wanted $1 million from Weakland, meaning the Archdiocese, meaning me, for an 11-page love letter that Weakland had written to him in 1980.

Excerpts from the letter:

Dear Paul,

If I have great hesitancy in saying how I feel inside, I have even greater fear about writing about them. It all seems so permanent and irreversible that way. One of my traumatic memories during high school days was getting caught writing in my diary during study-hall rather than working and having the diary confiscated and read -- I felt sure -- by all the prefects. My mother's sage advice when I lamented about the injustice of it all was to warn me that I should not put down on paper what I would not want the whole world to read. But here goes anyway. It will make our walk less heavy -- or at least it will give you a jump on how I feel and a chance to reflect.

First of all, all this is far too heavy for me, but I suppose that is the pain of deep love. The whole experience of the last weeks -- and especially this week -- has been a purifying one but an exhausting one with wounds that will heal only with more trust and time.

Where to start? After our last visit at my place before you left for Athens, I knew our Nantucket dream was in trouble. Your two calls made that doubly clear. You had made me promise earlier not to withdraw, and I did want to make the trip, and I did need the rest and the atmosphere I felt sure it would provide. But how to open up to you? I was frightened to do so. I just hated to confront the whole confusing situation as I saw it from my limited emotional angle.

I am going to try now but I can't help but wonder -- will he read it to the end? Will he understand that regardless of what the words say, I am still always reiterating how deep my affection for him is? Will I just muddle the whole affair, make matters worse and regret ever trying? Love is better than valor, so here goes.

After that visit I knew how much you needed money to bring off that Christodrama project and how much you counted on me for it. Your anger was evident that I couldn't play the great patron. I guess that was interpreted as rejection of you. Once before you had placed it in those terms. ''If you don't have faith in the project, at least in me.'' Paul, I really have given you all that I personally possess. The $14,000 is really my personal limit: it was the money I got from my community when I became a bishop and I simply do not have private funds. What I can now do personally to help you will be minimal. I know you are pushing me for church money, for some sort of church support for the Midwest Institute of Christodrama.

I feel you are putting me in an impossible situation here. I consider all that church money as a sacred trust; it represents the offerings of faithful and I must be accountable to them for how it is all spent. There are hundreds of requests on my desk for funds for worthy causes, for inner city projects, to the elderly, to the handicapped, etc. Hardly a day goes past I don't have to turn down such projects. I simply do not see how I can authorize money for your project. It is not because I don't love you but just because I am not [illegible] of a project.

In all truth I do not see how you could possibly earn the kind of money you foresee, enough to live on in the style you are accustomed to, and still put any aside. I really felt that you were in for a sad awakening sooner or later down the road, and it would best come now before you are too deeply involved. I know that others less gifted and less qualified than you demand high prices but usually they are people with another [illegible] -- teaching, writing -- who made a name for themselves first. You seem to want to start at the end (that's because you are so perceptive and have such a unique general background) and seem to get bored with the necessary stages that cannot be avoided.

I am sorry if I gave you the wrong impression I would able financially to carry the project. If I lead you on to that conclusion, I do deeply regret it. I also find it hard to believe -- and I refuse to do so but I wouldn't write this if a doubt did not gnaw within me -- that this money aspect was so vital to our friendship. Was our friendship to proceed or fall on my ability to provide? I don't want to think so. There is a hurt there that needs reassuring.

So, yeah. We know Weakland is gay. We know he wasn't celibate. We know he was stupid to trust Marcoux.

Love is blind, I guess.

The Associated Press is treating Weakland's admission like it's news. It's not.

A Roman Catholic archbishop who resigned in 2002 over a sex and financial scandal involving a man describes his struggles with being gay in an upcoming memoir about his decades serving the church.

Archbishop Rembert Weakland, former head of the Milwaukee archdiocese, said in an interview Monday that he wrote about his sexual orientation because he wanted to be candid about "how this came to life in my own self, how I suppressed it, how it resurrected again."

Called "A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop," the book is set to be released in June.

"I was very careful and concerned that the book not become a Jerry Springer, to satisfy people's prurient curiosity or anything of this sort," Weakland told The Associated Press. "At the same time, I tried to be as honest as I can."

I think the 11-page letter to Marcoux and statements from Marcoux spelled things out quite clearly.

We had the Jerry Springer experience in 2002.

Does Weakland offer even more details in his book? If he does, then he absolutely is writing a tell-all. What should we expect? Soft porn accounts of his encounters?

What he calls honest is surely going to be titillating to some and disgusting to others.

Weakland stepped down soon after Paul Marcoux, a former Marquette University theology student, revealed in May 2002 that he was paid $450,000 to settle a sexual assault claim he made against the archbishop more than two decades earlier. The money came from the archdiocese.

Marcoux went public at the height of anger over the clergy sex abuse crisis, when Catholics and others were demanding that dioceses reveal the extent of molestation by clergy and how much had been confidentially spent to settle claims.

Weakland denied ever assaulting anyone. He apologized for concealing the payment. The Vatican says that men with "deep-seated" attraction to other men should not be ordained.

In an August 1980 letter that was obtained by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Weakland said he was in emotional turmoil over Marcoux and that he had "come back to the importance of celibacy in my life." He signed the letter, "I love you."

The revelations rocked the Milwaukee archdiocese, which Weakland had led since 1977. He was a hero for liberal Catholics nationwide because of his work on social justice and other issues.

Weakland is no hero. He's a hypocrite.

And now he wants to profit from his affair and become the poster boy for unfaithful, fallen priests.

If Weakland wanted to have sexual relationships with men, then he chose the wrong line of work.

I don't care that Weakland is gay. I care that he was incredibly selfish and reckless. I care that the people of the Archdiocese trusted him and responded when he asked them to donate their hard-earned dollars to support the Archdiocese.

Supposedly, none of those donations went to pay for Weakland's hush money fund or legal expenses.

I don't buy that. The Archdiocese paid Marcoux. Money that was used to pay him off could have been applied to fund ministries and programs.

Our money paid off Weakland's lover. Our money has been used and will be used to pay victims of the sexual abuse scandal.

I hope all the profits from Weakland's tell-all will be used to pay us back.

I'm not comfortable with Weakland doing interviews to promote his book.

Does he have a book tour planned? Will there be book signing events? Will he go on the lecture circuit to plug his book?

What still bothers me is that Weakland never really apologized to us for his wrongdoing. It was half-hearted at best.

I think he's an arrogant, selfish man.

The archbishop, now 82, said he seriously considered the potential pain for the archdiocese of renewing attention to the scandal and thought about waiting "until I was dead" to have it published. But he decided to move ahead with the project.

"What I felt was that people who loved me as bishop here, when they read the book will continue to love me. The people who found it difficult, I hope will be helped a little bit by the book," he said.

I don't think Weakland should have waited until he was dead to have the book published. I wish he wouldn't have written the book at all. That would have been the right thing to do.

Instead, he's ripping off the scab, opening up the wound again. I don't want to relive the betrayal.

This is incredibly selfish of him.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee doesn't need this sort of attention. Weakland has to know that, but he doesn't care.

In a sign of the deep emotions still surrounding Weakland and his departure, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has released a public statement alerting local Catholics to the upcoming book.

Here's the statement from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee:

Archbishop Emeritus Rembert Weakland has chosen to write his memoirs, which will be published and available within the next few weeks. The book is called: A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop. In it, he reflects upon his experience as a bishop in the Catholic Church. In addition he recounts his relationship with Paul Marcoux and the events surrounding his retirement in 2002.

The book will undoubtedly spark a variety of emotions in Catholics throughout southeastern Wisconsin. Some people will be angry about the book, others will support it.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee continues to pray for the needs and intentions of all those who experienced this difficult time.

Weakland reminds me of Brett Favre -- childish, selfish, delusional, arrogant.

I wish he'd just go away. Enough already.

...The archbishop has been living in a retirement community near the Milwaukee archdiocese and plans to move to St. Mary's Abbey in Morristown, N.J., this summer. He said he was not bitter about how the scandal had eclipsed his decades of work in the church.

"I refused to let myself become a victim and refused to let myself become angry," he said. "I want to take responsibility but I want to move on."

BITTER?

Weakland isn't bitter? Why should HE be bitter?

He screwed up. He broke his vows. He lied. People respected him and he betrayed them. This man of faith left a trail of broken people. That's his legacy.

Weakland is NOT a victim.

He's a victimizer.

Weakland Leaving Milwaukee

UPDATE, MAY 11, 2009: Weakland is Gay
__________________

What has the disgraced former Archbishop of Milwaukee been doing with his time?

We know that he's written a book, A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop.

The publication of the book coincides with Weakland's departure from the Milwaukee area.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Former Milwaukee Catholic Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland, who retired in 2002 amid accusations of a sexual scandal, has decided to leave Milwaukee for a Benedictine abbey in New Jersey.

Weakland, 82, has accepted an invitation to live out his retirement years at St. Mary's Abbey in Morristown, N.J., the archdiocese said.

Reached by telephone Thursday morning, Weakland declined to comment. He said he would not agree to be interviewed by the Journal Sentinel, which has reported extensively on his personal scandal and his alleged role in covering up sex abuse by other priests, now the subject of civil lawsuits.

Asked why, Weakland said, "I'm not giving any reasons, thank you," before hanging up.

Archdiocese spokeswoman Julie Wolf announced Weakland's departure in an internal memo to staff Wednesday, alerting them to a pending New York Times article that she said is likely to "spark emotions."

That article is expected to focus on Weakland's soon-to-be released book, "A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop," which publisher Wm. B. Eerdmans says "describes with poignant honesty" the archbishop's "psychological, spiritual and sexual growth."

"Some will be angry about the book," which is expected to be released this summer, Wolf said in the memo to staff.

"But others will support it," Wolf said Thursday. "There are varying opinions about Archbishop Weakland, about his tenure here and everything that took place prior to his retirement."

Obviously, I can't discuss specifics of the book without reading it or at least having access to excerpts.

Assuming that portions of it are Weakland's attempt to explain his scandalous actions and redeem himself, I can imagine that the book will "spark emotions."

I don't need a book to get my emotions sparked on this subject.

All I have to do is watch video of Weakland's deposition related to lawsuits against the Church due to the sexual abuse scandal.

Read the transcript of the full deposition here.

It's nauseating.

I don't want to read Weakland's account of his experience, courtesy of the New York Times. I've read enough. His 11-page letter to his lover, Paul Marcoux, was more than enough.

I'm wondering about the profits he'll make from his book.

Will they go to repay the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for the half million dollars paid out in hush money to Marcoux?

That hush money came from the hard-earned dollars of southeastern Wisconsin Catholics, faithful parishioners who donated to the Church thinking they were helping to support its various ministries, not cover up Weakland's mess.

The cost of the Marcoux scandal was more than the hush money. What's the total price tag when Weakland's legal defense bills are included?

Will Weakland's profits be used to help settle lawsuits brought against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, directly related to his actions in the sexual abuse scandal during his time as archbishop?

I think that would be an appropriate penance for Weakland.

I've never really had the feeling that Weakland was sorry. I don't get the impression that he's interested in reconciliation.

Archbishop Dolan's Farewell

Easter is the joyous celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But amid that triumphant Easter joy, there was some sadness yesterday as Archbishop Timothy Dolan said his final Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist before leaving the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

From the New York Daily News:

Tears flowed in Milwaukee on Sunday as Archbishop Timothy Dolan bade farewell to his loyal parishioners before heading to New York to replace Edward Cardinal Egan.

A standing-room-only crowd of hundreds of worshipers packed the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist to hear Dolan give his final Easter Sunday Mass.

"As excited as I am and as hopeful as I am, this is downright sad," Dolan told the congregation. "It's kind of a little dying and some rising, which is what Holy Week and Easter is all about."

Churchgoers arrived up to an hour early to secure a seat at the 9:30 a.m. service. Some described Dolan as a "rock star" and a "dazzler" who attracts admirers wherever he goes.

...For many, it will be the personal encounters with Dolan they will remember most: a little handshake or hug or a kind word that reaffirmed their faith in the Catholic Church.

...Dolan's Easter Mass lasted more than an hour. He said he had followed the advice of former President Ronald Reagan and rehearsed his parting words several times to stop himself from breaking down.

Then he received a standing ovation, removed his cloak and watched as his coat of arms was taken down.

"The sadness to leave the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is tempered by the excitement and promise of New York," Dolan said. "Happy Easter; see you soon," he added.

That same bittersweet emotion was reflected in Egan's final Easter Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral as he thanked his congregation for supporting him for the past nine years.

"I've been the recipient of so many blessings and so many kindnesses," he said.

...With St. Patrick's filled to capacity, Egan was cheered by hundreds of people who had gathered outside the historic Fifth Ave. church.

...Dolan arrived from Milwaukee at his new residence next to St. Patrick's Cathedral Sunday night. He officially takes over as New York's Catholic leader on Wednesday.

The celebrations begin Tuesday with a solemn vespers prayer service at 6:30 p.m. at St. Patrick's.

Dolan will preside over his first service Wednesday during the Mass of Installation at 2 p.m. He said he also plans to visit Ground Zero later in the week.

Archbishop Dolan was a great gift to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

He touched the lives of so many people in southeastern Wisconsin.

We were blessed to have him here to guide us through that very difficult period of scandal, including the shocking misdeeds of Archbishop Rembert Weakland. Although I was so disillusioned, I credit Archbishop Dolan for helping restore my confidence in the Church. No small task.

My first impression of him, back in 2002, was that he really loves what he does. That never changed. One of the things that I found most endearing about Archbishop Dolan was the way he wanted to be involved in the lives of his flock on a very personal level. He wasn't aloof or cold. He shared in our joys and sorrows.

I was blessed to know the depth and sincerity of his compassion. I'll always be grateful.

Although Archbishop Dolan is in New York now, he'll remain in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. He's left a lasting legacy in our hearts.

Archbishop Dolan Succeeds Cardinal Egan

UPDATES:

Milwaukee Bishop Gets Egan's Post
New Archbishop Attends St. Patrick's Mass
Milwaukee Archbishop Chosen to Succeed Egan
Dolan to take over as archbishop of New York
Dolan will have one more Easter in Milwaukee

Statement from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee:

Pope Benedict XVI appoints Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan Archbishop of New York

The Vatican announced today that Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan as the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York. Archbishop Dolan will remain as Archbishop of Milwaukee until Wednesday, April 15, when he will be installed as Archbishop of New York during a Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.

"I am honored by this appointment," Archbishop Dolan said, "as I was honored by my appointment as Archbishop of Milwaukee. I am deeply grateful for the confidence of Pope Benedict XVI. Yet, I must admit sadness in the prospect of leaving the people of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, whom I have come to know, love and deeply appreciate. I am very much at home here. It will be tough to leave."

Archbishop Dolan was appointed Archbishop of Milwaukee on June 25, 2002, and was installed as the tenth Archbishop of Milwaukee on August 28, 2002.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan will succeed Cardinal Edward Egan, according to the Associated Press.

Rumors of the appointment have been swirling for so long. Now, it seems reality will replace the rumors.

From AP, in the New York Times:

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of Milwaukee will be appointed the next Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, The Associated Press has learned.

The Vatican is expected to announce Archbishop Dolan’s appointment Monday, according to a church official with knowledge of when Vatican appointments are announced. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the selection.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, whose gregarious pastoral style endeared him to a Catholic community in need of a morale boost, is expected to be named today archbishop of New York.

Sources with knowledge of the appointment said Sunday that Pope Benedict XVI would name the 59-year-old Dolan to succeed retiring Cardinal Edward M. Egan. Dolan will take over an archdiocese of 2.5 million Catholics in what many consider the highest-profile position in the U.S. Catholic Church. The appointment all but ensures that Dolan ultimately will be named a cardinal.

Dolan is on vacation, and archdiocese spokeswoman Julie Wolf declined to comment.

...Dolan is credited with working to heal and reinvigorate the local church, home to 682,000 Catholics. He has drawn accolades for his support of Catholic schools, priests and seminarians. Enrollment at St. Francis de Sales Seminary is at a 20-year high, which many attribute to Dolan's example and emphasis on vocations.

Church officials say he has taken steps to improve the archdiocese's financial position and address the fallout from the scandal that hastened the retirement and stained the legacy of his predecessor, Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland.

"There's a lot of gratitude for what he's done here," said Father Steven Avella, a Catholic historian and professor of history at Marquette University. "He's a personable and decent man who listened and tried his best to lead the archdiocese through some very difficult times."

...Dolan leaves at a difficult time for the archdiocese. It is just halfway through the capital campaign, and there is concern that giving could trail off if the economy doesn't pick up. And although money from the campaign is not going to pay off abuse settlements, the archdiocese is bracing itself for possible bankruptcy if it loses a series of civil fraud cases brought by sex abuse victims that are expected to go to trial this summer.

I really hate to see Archbishop Dolan go. This upheaval comes at a terrible time for the archdiocese.

More sex abuse scandal fall-out coming this summer?

Bankruptcy on the horizon?

Now is not the time for a new archbishop to step in. The thought is really unsettling. There's so much turmoil ahead. I found Dolan to be very reassuring and comforting. He did provide a badly needed morale boost after the Rembert Weakland mess.

Dolan was the right man. He held the archdiocese together during a very traumatic period.

But now the steady foundation Dolan provided is being ripped out from under the Catholics of Southeastern Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Archdiocese is left on shaky ground, with a lot of uncertainty looming.

I still have not gotten over the Weakland thing.

Dolan was in Milwaukee for less than seven short years. His position in the Milwaukee Archdiocese seems like it was just a stepping stone. So it's off to New York, to bigger and better things. This is quite a promotion for Dolan and one he truly deserves. I understand why Pope Benedict chose him to become the archbishop of New York. I'm sure he'll do tremendously well and I wish him the best.

As for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, I guess it's better to have had Dolan at the helm briefly than not at all.

The fact that I am so concerned about Archbishop Dolan leaving Milwaukee speaks to my great admiration for him and what he has accomplished in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Quite simply, he's irreplaceable.

I had the honor of meeting Archbishop Dolan. It was at a time of great challenge and suffering for me. I consider myself blessed to have had him touch my life personally and I will miss him more than I can say.