Report: In Milawukee, Dolan sought to keep assets from abuse victims

[UrbScotty]

Files released by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee on Monday reveal that in 2007, Cardinal Timothy F. Dolan, then the archbishop there, requested permission from the Vatican to move nearly $57 million into a cemetery trust fund to protect the assets from victims of clergy sexual abuse who were demanding compensation.

Cardinal Dolan, now the archbishop of New York, has emphatically denied seeking to shield church funds as the archbishop of Milwaukee from 2002 to 2009. He reiterated in a statement Monday that these were “old and discredited attacks.”

However, the files contain a 2007 letter to the Vatican in which he explains that by transferring the assets, “I foresee an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability.” The Vatican approved the request in five weeks, the files show.

The release of more than 6,000 pages of documents on Monday was hailed by victims and their advocates as a vindication and a historic step toward transparency and accountability. They were well aware that the archives would bring unusually intense scrutiny to the country’s most high-profile prelate, Cardinal Dolan, who as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the archbishop of New York has sought to help the church turn the corner on the era of scandal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/us/dolan-sought-vatican-permission-to-shield-assets.html

[rug]

1. If he required Vatican consent, the Vatican is directly implicated in this.

[Renew Deal]

2. Your statement is fair

But who in the Vatican had to approve? Was it the pope, the bank, or someone else?

[rug]

3. Ultimately, the Pope. He may have delegated authority but it's ultimately his.

This severely damages their ongoing defense that the dioceses are separate legal entities. If this plays out, their only viable defense is sovereign immunity.

[No Vested Interest]

5. Would that have been Benedict or John Paul?

We know it wasn't the present Pope, Francis.

Poor Francis having to deal with and, we hope, clean up messes left by his predecessors.
His predicament is reminiscent of Gerald Ford coming in after Nixon's resignation.

[rug]

6. In 2007 that would have been Benedict, or someone working directly under him.

I hope Francis is up to the task. It's pretty well entrenched.

[olegramps]

4. It would appear that Nolan is a common liar. Nice person to head the USCCB.

Although I am not surprised in the least that he would result to unethical means to protect the church's wealth. I have to admit that I never cared for the man who I regard as a throw back to the pompous prelates of the pre-Vatican era. The people can thank Pope John Paul II for the present state of the church. Isn't little wonder that millions, especially younger people, have rejected the church as being totally irrelevant? As I have stated before in my extended family of some forty nieces and nephews only two continue to go to church. Among my grandnieces and nephews the last four didn't even have a church wedding.

[47of74]

7. Ugh.