Sexual abuse scandal in Catholic archdiocese of Milwaukee

The sexual abuse scandal in the Milwaukee Archdiocese is a series of sexual-abuse cases which have occurred in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Lawrence Murphy case

In March 2010, an article in the New York Times covered allegations that Vatican officials (including then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI) did not respond to allegations of sexual abuse of boys by defrocking the accused priest. Several U.S. bishops had warned the Vatican that failure to hold a church trial and defrock the priest could embarrass the church. The priest, Lawrence Murphy, is believed to have molested up to 200 deaf boys before the mid-1970s. Murphy was elderly and seriously ill when the first question related to the allegations reached the Vatican, two decades after the abuse occurred. Local law-enforcement agencies also knew about the abuse and did nothing.

Murphy taught at the former St. John School for the Deaf in the Milwaukee suburb of St. Francis, Wisconsin from 1950 to 1974. After the allegations were made, Murphy was moved by then-Milwaukee Archbishop William Edward Cousins to Superior, Wisconsin (a small city near Lake Superior), where he spent his final 24 years working in parishes, schools and a juvenile-detention center. Murphy died in 1998, several months after he requested that the Vatican halt a canonical trial against him due to his ill health.

Critics have alleged that former archbishop Rembert Weakland covered up (or failed to publicize) some of the abuse, in particular in overseeing an evaluation of Murphy in 1993. In 1996 Weakland twice wrote about the case to Cardinal Ratzinger (then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), but received no reply. Cardinal Bertone instructed Wisconsin bishops to convene a canonical trial which could have resulted in a range of punishments (including defrocking). Later, the formal church trial was dropped because a church statute of limitations had been exceeded, and because Murphy was elderly and in poor health. The Congregation suggested the archbishop instead punish Murphy by imposing penance and restricting his public ministry. Laicization would have released Murphy from nearly all obligations of priesthood (including the obligation to perform any penance ordered by his bishop). Archbishop Weakland said, "The evidence was so complete and so extensive that I thought he should be reduced to the lay state," and complained that Vatican tribunals moved too slowly. The Vatican responded to concerns by noting that they had not been informed of the allegations until 20 years after they were first raised; that Murphy died within two years of Vatican notification of the allegations; that police investigations into the allegations at the time did not result in any cases being heard; and that there was nothing in the Vatican's actions that would prevent civil cases from proceeding. As of March 2010, there were four outstanding lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in the case.

2003 report on sexual abuse

Following public testimony by victims before a combined session of the Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly Judiciary Committee, a report on the sexual abuse of minors by clergy in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee was published in September 2003. The report revealed that allegations of sexual assault against minors had been made against 58 ordained men, who were under the direct supervision of the Archbishop of Milwaukee.^{[citation needed]} In response to the sexual-abuse scandal, Archbishop Timothy Dolan held a meeting with victims, mental health professionals, law enforcement officers and clergy. He opposed legislation which would have extended (or eliminated) the statute of limitations on the filing of clergy sexual-abuse cases.^{[citation needed]}

By early 2009, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee had spent approximately $26.5 million in attorney fees and settlements^{[citation needed]} for sexual-abuse claims. Nevertheless, Dolan helped the archdiocese avoid bankruptcy resulting from the lawsuits, and closed a $3 million budget deficit in 2008. He later called the sexual abuse scandals the most challenging issue of his tenure in Milwaukee, saying "Does it haunt me? Yes it does. And I'm not afraid to admit that."

2011 bankruptcy filing

On January 4, 2011 the Archdiocese of Milwaukee announced that it would be filing for bankruptcy. The church was facing more than 23 lawsuits, and attempts to reach a mediated settlement with victims failed in December 2010.^{[citation needed]} This announcement came two days before the bishop was scheduled to be deposed, and after the church had refused to release the names or personnel records of the priests accused. The attorney for the plaintiffs in the abuse action opined that the bankruptcy filing was an attempt to delay turning over church records on the cases.^{[citation needed]}

The Milwaukee archdiocese has paid out over $29 million to settle 200 cases over the last 20 years. The archdiocese said that these additional cases would incur legal fees the dioceses could not afford. The archdiocese has assets of about $98.4 million, but $90 million of that is already allocated. Papers released in the bankruptcy filing refer to more than 8,000 cases of abuse by in excess of 100 staff.

See also

• Child abuse
• Child sexual abuse
• Religious abuse
• Sexual misconduct
• Spiritual abuse

External links

Archdiocese of Milwaukee

• Sexual Abuse Prevention & Response Services
• Sexual Abuse Information
• Safeguarding All of God's Family