Free Republic

Unrepentant scandal-ridden W.Va. bishop offers offensive non-apology Bp. Michael Bransfield's 'apology' is of the sort that could have been delivered with a one-finger gesture. 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: Let’s 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...

In a new lawsuit, the former personal secretary for Roxborough native and ex-West Virginia Bishop Michael J. Bransfield described his former boss as a “sexual predator” prone to binge-drinking orange liqueur and venting his lust on priests and seminarians. The plaintiff, a onetime seminarian in his early 20s identified in court filings by the initials J.E., says that Bransfield exposed his penis and groped him while they were traveling together on church business in 2014. His suit marks the first time any of the bishop’s accusers have publicly offered an account of the type of alleged misconduct that led the...

For Immediate ReleaseMonday, March 11, 2019On September 13, 2018, the Holy See announced the retirement of Michael J. Bransfield as Bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in West Virginia and appointed Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori as Apostolic Administrator of Wheeling-Charleston, with a mandate to conduct a preliminary investigation into allegations of sexual harassment of adults and financial improprieties by Bishop Bransfield.The preliminary investigation, which took place over five months, was conducted by Archbishop Lori with the assistance of a team of five lay experts. The investigative team examined multiple allegations of sexual harassment of adults and financial improprieties. It...