BishopAccountability.org
November 21, 2008
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/depo/2008_06_05_Weakland_Rembert/
This deposition was taken on June 5-6, 2008. It offers insights into the management of abuse cases by Archbishop William E. Cousins (1958-1977) and Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland (1977-2002). Weakland discusses in detail the cases of convicted abuser Rev. Siegfried Widera (who continued to molest boys in California after Weakland excardinated him there) and admitted abuser Rev. Franklyn Becker (who molested boys in the Milwaukee parishes and hospitals where Weakland assigned him).
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The deposition also examines the Marcoux revelations, which caused the Vatican to accept Weakland's resignation. Weakland talks at length about his attitudes, policies, and programs during 25 years as archbishop, and provides brief assessments of a dozen other abuse cases.
This webpage offers a convenient version of the deposition, designed so that readers can read it easily, do searches, and view exhibits while they read. Below on this page we offer our own table of contents, the list of document exhibits with links to the exhibits added, and the full text of the deposition with added photos and links to all the exhibits. These enhancements are clearly distinguished from the text of the deposition, which was created from the version posted on the website of Jeff Anderson & Associates. You may search the full text of the deposition on this page by using the search function in your browser (in Internet Explorer, type control-F, type the word you wish to search, and click enter).
We occasionally provide links to materials referenced in the text, and we offer additional information on several issues, carefully marking these additions with square brackets. For an alternative history of much that is discussed here by Archbishop Weakland, see Peter Isely and Jim Smith, The Sexual Abuse of Children in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, February 10, 2004.
Excerpts of the deposition have been posted on YouTube by Jeff Anderson & Associates. Click the images below to view the videos. If you wish to follow along as you watch the videos, we have created a transcript of the video excerpts.
Video excerpts from pages 1 to 199 of the Weakland deposition.
Video excerpts from pages 199 to 312 of the Weakland deposition.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.