Archbishop Weakland (in the flesh) gets an earful!! You go, girl!!
Archbishop Weakland, whose humility is an inspiration to all, appears on the left in this bronze sculpture along with St. John the Evangelist!
Posted on 05/17/2002 6:00:10 AM PDT by NYer
MILWAUKEE (AP) _ Hundreds of parishioners who attended ``listening sessions'' held by the Milwaukee archdiocese to gauge response to the sex abuse scandal gave church officials an earful.
``The top is rotten,'' said Faythe Weber during a discussion at St. Gregory the Great Church on Thursday. ``I don't believe a word they say right now. It was cover-up, cover-up, cover-up.''
The session was one of six held simultaneously at parishes throughout the archdiocese. Parishioners vented their anger about the scandal and railed against the Roman Catholic church's hierarchy.
``A crime is a crime. It doesn't matter what your profession is,'' said Bernie Klamecki, a member of Mary Queen of Heaven. ``It's hard for us to say that because of our respect for priests, but when that respect is fractured, then they have to pay for their actions.''
``The hurt and the pain is deeper than I ever imagined. I'm just heartsick,'' said the Rev. Tom Eichenberger of St. Veronica's after listening to speakers at one of the sessions. Archbishop Rembert Weakland attended the session at St. John Vianney Parish. Some people booed when told Weakland would not answer any questions. He spoke to some people but did not reveal any specifics about individual cases or what action the church will take.
Dorothy Slivicki, who attends St. Veronica's Parish, cautioned during the session at St. Gregory that people should be careful not to brand all priests as abusers. ``Our priest gave an apology during Mass and he didn't do anything,'' she said. ``We gave him a five-minute standing ovation.''
The session began with the reading of a letter in which Weakland apologized to anyone who was sexually abused by a priest. After prayers, the standing-room-only crowd broke into small groups to discuss questions ranging from the definition of pedophilia to why the church didn't disclose abuse allegations against priests.
Parishioner Scott Edgerton, who claimed a priest had abused him in a sacristy in 1976, said Catholics should seize control from the church bureaucracy. ``This is not Archbishop Weakland's church. This is not Rome's church. Start getting active or you won't like where we're going,'' he said.
Almost everyone called for any priest proven to be an abuser to be removed from the ministry and face criminal sentencing. More than 177 priests have been dismissed or resigned across the country since the sex abuse scandal erupted in Boston early this year. A community commission that Weakland appointed has reviewed the archdiocese's policies for dealing with allegations of sexual abuse by clergy and issued preliminary recommendations, including a ``zero tolerance'' approach toward misconduct.
In other developments Thursday:
_Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley warned Cardinal Roger Mahony that he will resort to a grand jury if the Archdiocese of Los Angeles fails to hand over all documentation on priests implicated in sex abuse. The prosecutor's office said the archdiocese had not turned over any written information as of Thursday. In a statement, the archdiocese said it has been cooperating with all law enforcement agencies and looks forward ``to resolving any misunderstanding that may exist.''
_The New Orleans archdiocese said 10 priests and two deacons will soon be barred from practicing any priestly duties in response to allegations of sexual abuse. Only two of the priests are active and only one of them is in parish ministry, a spokesman said.
_The archbishop in Hartford, Conn., agreed to forward seven recent sexual abuse complaints against priests to state authorities, according to a state official. He also agreed to use a state child-abuse hot line to immediately report any future abuse allegations lodged against a priest.
_The Louisville archdiocese asked a court to seal all records of recent lawsuits against it alleging sexual abuse by priests. The request came as seven more lawsuits were filed against the archdiocese, bringing the total to 67 since April 19.
Pax et Bonum
Archbishop Weakland (in the flesh) gets an earful!! You go, girl!!
Archbishop Weakland, whose humility is an inspiration to all, appears on the left in this bronze sculpture along with St. John the Evangelist!
Look at the expression on Weaklands face. I hope that she's giving him an earful about being a CINO and destroying the Cathedral in Milwaukee too.
Citing abuse, mother confronts Weakland
By MARIE ROHDE
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: May 16, 2002
Archbishop Rembert Weakland was sitting stoically against a rear wall in the basement meeting room of St. John Vianney Church in Brookfield when Beth Glynn confronted him.
Abuse in the Catholic Church
Glynn, of Brookfield, accused Weakland of going on national television several years ago and saying that little girls had enticed priests. Glynn said she had four daughters, ages 5, 7, 8 and 10, who were abused in the early 1970s by a priest.
Weakland denied making the statement, but the woman repeated that she had seen him on television making the statement, and he declined to engage in further conversation.
Tom Glynn said he went to see an archdiocesan official after he learned that his daughters had been abused.
"All he said to me was, 'Do not go to the press,' " Tom Glynn said. "He did not make one inquiry about my daughters. He did not ask about Beth or me. All he cared about was if he was going to the press."
The Glynns said they were told that the priest was going to live with his sister but later learned that it was only a matter of months before he was assigned to another parish in the diocese.
"I'm madder now than I was then," Tom Glynn said. "We relied on what they told us - they told us they were taking care of everything. But by the time we found out he had just been moved to another parish, the statute of limitations had passed."
The Glynns said they both continue to be members of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, but they are refusing to give money to the church.
Tom Glynn said he puts a note in the collection basket saying he is sending his money to a mission in Guatemala.
"I'm not going to donate one dime to bail out these pedophiles. They deliberately and professionally took advantage of us."
Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on May 17, 2002.
Am I correct in my thinking that what is collected each week at the parish level then goes to the Archdiocese and then is redistributed to the parishes? In other words, the Archdiocese takes a cut and then sends funds back to the individual parishes according to some formula...
I belong to a nice little parish with good priests - there is always talk of it closing (just gossip so far) and merging with a larger parish in the next town. Our collections are down about $1,000.00 per week now (about 1/5) - the priest has mentioned that he understands how everyone feels about the Cardinal (Law), but to please remember that there are electricity bills, roofing repairs, etc., that still need to be paid. I'd like to circumvent the collection basket and increase my donations to the parish via the mail, directly to the priest. I want to let him know that the money is for the parish only and I do not want it sent to Boston - has anyone tried this, and also, is this putting the priest in the middle (which I don't want to do)? Thanks.
Hard to think of what to do. Unless there are enough of you conservatives with enough money to buy a newpaper or radio ad.
If America is the canary in the coal mine in this cover-up scandal--I believe that this is a world-wide problem-- the next Pope will face a very different Church than we see now.
It will take a crowbar, but lay people must start demanding accountability from these inbred hierarchs.
If we don't, nothing will change!
Weakland embodies all that is hateful and disgusting about the AmChurch.
Colleen, I am not aware of this being the practice for regular weekly collections anywhere. As others have pointed out there is usually an annual fundraising drive, called "Catholic Stewardship Campaign" here, which is divvied up between the Diocese and parish (60/40 here) whihc is the main method of supporting the Diocese.
As has also been pointed out, the diocese "expects" a certain amount to be collected in this campaign and the parish is "assessed" at this value.
SD
They don't feel good because they were talking to hacks, people with no responsibility and no ability to change anything.
A smart bishop would cancel all his appointments and make the rounds of as many parishes in his diocese as he could between now and the bishop's meeting. Lots of folks just want to vent, and they want to vent at the guy in charge.
Not just a smart bishop but a real bishop who cares about his people and cares about defending the Faith.
For the second reason I have avoided the envelopes and pamphlets which are beginning to take over the pews. My weekend parish has regular collections which we do not stint, as well the monthly second collection to pay for the AC installed a year ago. My weekday parish in the City seems very healthy with 6 rotating priests, 2 deacons, 7 masses/weekday and 5 hours of confession/day + a Tridentine Mass on Sunday. I am not worried about either parish, but I am worried about the services in the greater NY area that may be hurt by my refusal to support Egan. We need to be creative in our works. Any further ideas from the "_Matters" family on how to circumtithe would be welcome.
v.
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