Archdiocese of Milwaukee files for bankruptcy

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is to file for bankruptcy.

Part of the story… read the rest there.   My emphases.

Archdiocese filing for bankruptcy

The Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which is facing more than a dozen lawsuits over its handling of clergy sex abuse cases, is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this afternoon, the archdiocese said Tuesday.

Archbishop Jerome Listecki said the move was necessary to fairly compensate victims and continue the “essential ministries” of the church, and urged the faithful not to blame the victims.

“For those of you who may feel anger and resentment that we have come to this moment, STOP,” Listecki said in a letter to church members on Tuesday. “We are here because of one reason: Priests sexually abused minors.”

Jeff Anderson, [You could smell that name ahead of time, I’m sure.] the Minnesota lawyer who represents victims in the Milwaukee cases, called the action sad and alarming, characterizing it as a ploy to delay the lawsuits and the disclosure of damning information in depositions of retired Archbishop Rembert Weakland and Richard Sklba. [Gifts which keep on giving.] Sklba’s deposition was initially scheduled for January and recently rescheduled for February.

“The bankruptcy essentially stops the cases from moving forward,” Anderson said. “In other cities it’s often been done on the eve of trial. In this case it’s on the eve of the deposition.”

[…]

How very sad.

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16 Comments

  1. Golatin5048 says:

    Let us pray for all those in the diocese. Let us also pray for Mr. Anderson. God help them!

  2. lacrossecath says:

    You would be interested to know that the Milwaukee Catholic Herald ran a 32 page tribute section to Bp Sklba recently after the announcement of his retirement.

    http://berres.blogspot.com/2010/12/last-minute-gift-idea.html

  3. dad29 says:

    If by “pray for Anderson” you mean that he is in need of a massive conversion, well, yes!! Pray for him.

    He just watched a few million in contingency fees disappear into thin air.

    …and a One and a Two….and a AAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

  4. Ann K says:

    Is Mr. Anderson seeking justice? Pay attention on Judgment Day. He may be called one of the Sons of God.

    I agree that it is sad and that prayers are needed.

  5. Golatin5048 says:

    dad29,
    Yes, that is what i meant!

  6. ttucker says:

    No, we are for two reasons: priests abused minors, and bishops didn’t stop them when they could have.

  7. Childermass says:

    I pray that the breathtakingly wicked Rembert Weakland undergoes a chastisement commensurate to the evil he did and that he suffers enough to come to conversion and repentance.

  8. pberginjr says:

    I won’t call Weakland wicked out of respect for his office, but ditto to Childermass.
    Also, don’t forget all of Weakland’s support for “liturgical dancing”and all that new music after V-II.

  9. TJerome says:

    Jeff Anderson is just concerned with his legal fees, nothing more. ALthough I would love to see Archbishop Weakland skewered. He caused a lot of damage to the Archdiocese. Why he wasn’t charged with theft for the “hush money” payments made to his gay lover has always remained a mystery.

  10. Childermass says:

    Weakland should have been excommunicated for promoting heresy, letting the little ones suffer, and being a wolf in shepherd’s vestments. He should then be locked up by the civil authorities for grand larceny, endangering the welfare of a child, obstruction of justice, and willful destruction of property (Milwaukee’s cathedral).

    It is “shepherds” like him who bear much of the responsibility of corrupting or destroying the Catholic faith of my and countless other families, as well as causing unimaginable destruction to the Church’s witness in the world.

    To put it in Tolkien terms, Jeff Anderson is a Shelob and Weakland is a Saruman.

  11. catholicmidwest says:

    Maybe someday the church will learn that keeping someone like Weakland in a position of power with no accountability is asking for trouble. We have been crying out for bad bishops to be removed, replaced or disciplined for years. And Rome has done nothing about it. Well, these are the natural consequences of doing nothing.

  12. thebigweave says:

    As someone who lives in a bankrupt diocese, I pray for the folks in the Milwaukee Diocese. Not to take away anything from the horror that is priestly sexual abuse, but the financial (as opposed to moral) bankruptcy is not all bad. I think that the suffering we are enduring here in Spokane has been part of the fuel for faith. We have Missionaries of Charity, Poor Clares, and Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church (all habited and faithful) all within the city. The Sisters of Mary recently returned from a decades-long schism. They now share the beauty of the TLM through liturgical music with all us yokels. We also have a FULL seminary, with really faithful young men, many learning the EF in addition to OF. We have a priest in our Diocese, Fr James Peak, who is serving in Afghanistan as an Army Chaplain (PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM!!!!) There is a TLM at my diocesan parish (as well as reverent NO) and another parish in town offers the NO ad orientum in Latin.

    We have no money, we have no people, we are rural po-dunk-ville. We are in the second most secular state in the union. And yet, something special is brewing just under the surface. Our suffering has not been for nothing, and hopefully, the same can soon be said for Milwaukee.

  13. Mary Ann says:

    thebigweave…very interesting and hopeful food for thought

  14. irishgirl says:

    I ‘second’ what Mary Ann said!

  15. Supertradmum says:

    I live in the diocese which experienced the greatest scandal settlement after Los Angeles to date. The diocese went bankrupt and several outreaches to the poor ended, not to be re-opened. Tithing in one parish where I worked in 2008 when from an astounding 90% of those attending Sunday Mass to close to 1% in four months. The entire experience has ripple effects on the Catholic schools, parishes, and involvement. We have lost at least 33% of our Latino population during this time period. We have a “remnant Church” here.

    The scandals, horrible enough in themselves, are satan’s foot in the door. I await the spiritual renewal so badly needed and mourn with those who mourn in Milwaukee.

  16. everett says:

    thebigweave,

    As a former seminarian at Bishop White, I think often of the Diocese of Spokane and all of the fine young priests you have. One of the things I most regret about taking a job elsewhere is that I will not be able to experience the many blessings of all of the excellent formation your priests have undergone. Fr. Peak is just one of the many faithful priests you have had coming out of your diocese in recent years. It is truly a tribute to what a few good priests can do for an entire diocese by focusing on vocations and faithfulness.

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