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	Weakland Cancels Move to East Coast By Annysa Johnson Milwaukee Journal Sentinel May 26, 2009 http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/46131527.html Retired Milwaukee Catholic Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland has decided not to move to an East Coast abbey this summer, though he and the head of the monastery on Tuesday offered differing explanations of the decision. Weakland said he rescinded his plans to move to St. Mary's Abbey in Morristown, N.J., on May 18 after Abbot Giles Hayes expressed concerns about his presence in the wake of a New York Times story recounting revelations in his forthcoming memoir. "It seemed evident to me that they thought my presence there might be a negative element for the school and monastery," said Weakland, who discusses his homosexuality and his handling of clergy sex abuse in the book, "A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church," which is due out this month. St. Mary's is home to Delbarton School, a prestigious boys college preparatory school operated by the Benedictine monks of St. Mary's, about 35 miles from Manhattan. Giles, who is the former headmaster of the school, said Weakland changed his plans without explanation a week earlier, and that he had no reason to believe controversy surrounding the book played a role. Weakland said that the day he sent the e-mail offering his withdrawal, the Benedictine community was scheduled to meet to discuss concerns about his move. "I put in the option that I would withdraw if it was a problem," he said. Weakland, 82, said he would remain in Milwaukee. Weakland, who served as Milwaukee archbishop beginning in 1977, retired in 2002 after it was revealed that he had paid $450,000 to a man who accused him of date rape in 1979. He is a central figure in pending civil fraud lawsuits alleging the Milwaukee Archdiocese moved pedophile priests to other jurisdictions without divulging their histories. Weakland has drawn fire in recent weeks for his revelations in the book, among them an assertion that bishops early on considered sex abuse of minors as a moral evil rather than a crime.
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