Posted on 08/22/2020 5:30:55 PM PDT by ebb tide
August 21, 2020 (CatholicCulture.org) This morning I had planned to write about the disgraceful excuse for an apology proffered by a former bishop. But I see that Christopher Altieri, writing in the Catholic Herald has beaten me to the punch:
Lets be clear about two things: Bishop Michael J. Bransfield improbably emeritus of the Diocese of Wheeling Charleston did not apologize; nor did he get the justice with a gesture of mercy that his successor, Bishop Mark E. Brennan, suggested he might have got.
Bishop Bransfield, you will recall, was allowed to resign upon reaching the normal age limit, despite mounting evidence that he had used diocesan funds on personal expenses at a spectacular level and as if that werent enough established a pattern of sexual harassment of priests and seminarians under his authority. Bishop Brennan, his successor in the West Virginia diocese, had denounced Bransfields behavior and suggested appropriate disciplinary action. After months of delay the Vatican finally approved the disciplinary action but, Altieri rightly observes, not before watering down Bishop Brennans suggestions.
(Did I mention that Bransfield is a protégé of the disgraced former cardinal, Theodore McCarrick? And did I mention that we are still waiting for the Vaticans promised report on how McCarrick rose to power and influence? Is it unreasonable to speculate that the same people and powers that supported McCarricks rise through the hierarchy are still at work, softening the penalty on Bransfield?)
Bishop Bransfields apology is of the sort that could have been delivered with a one-finger gesture. (You know the genre: Im sorry if youre so hypersensitive you were offended by what I said.) Having been required to pay back a portion of what he took from the diocesan coffers, Bransfield pouts: I have now done so even though I believed that such reimbursements to me were proper. As for charges of sexual harassment which a Vatican investigation found convincing the disgraced bishop concedes only that if anything that I said or did caused others to feel that way, then I am profoundly sorry. Can you detect any hint of remorse in Bishop Bransfields letter? I cant.
Yes, the former bishop (who, for some reason, has been allowed to retain the title of bishop emeritus, while stripped of the privileges that ordinarily attach to that title) has reimbursed the diocese, to the tune of $441,000. But as Altieri notes, that sum is roughly one-half of the figure that Bishop Brennan had proposed as a suitable compensation; it does not include the lavish personal expenses he racked up at diocesan expense.
And think about this: If you were presented with a bill for $441,000, could you pay it without mortgaging your home? I couldnt. But then I havent spent a decade living off the ample proceeds of a widows bequest to the Catholic Church.
Chris Altieri concludes his angry column by announcing that the next time he hears about how seriously Pope Francis and the Vatican take reports of episcopal misconduct, Im going to put my fist through a wall.
To spare the wall, and perhaps to prod the Vatican toward a recognition of how seriously episcopal malfeasance should be taken, let me call attention to the ritual for the Degradation of a Bishop, promulgated in the 18th century by Pope Benedict XIV. As our old friend Diogenes remarked on this site some 18 years ago:
When he promulgated this ritual in 1762, Pope Benedict obviously felt that it was necessary. He envisioned the possibility that a bishop could disgrace himself so thoroughly, and abuse his office so blatantly, that the Holy See would have no choice but to remove him. Such a bishop would not be allowed to resign quietly for reasons of health; he would not be transferred to a titular see in the Sahara; he would not be promoted to a meaningless desk job at the Vatican. He would be stripped of his office and the word is so beautifully expressive degraded.
Diogenes reproduced the rite in its details, and I encourage readers to read the colorful language and expressive rubrics. There is, in this ritual, a keen awareness that a bishop who betrays the faith and the faithful should live in disgrace. There is no such awareness in Bransfields phony apology.
Published with permission from CatholicCulture.org.
Bransfield's "apology"is no better than Teddy McCarrick's: I don't remember but if I offended anyone I'm sorry they were offended.
Ping
Gadarene swine. May he search for the nearest cliff.
The Catholic diocese of Syracuse, the town I mostly grew up in, recently declared bankruptcy.
Abuse victims are realizing that is the worst that could happen; it limits their awards, and many don’t want the dioceses to declare bankruptcy.
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