Cardinal Timothy Dolan's Smoking Gun: Editorial

The Star-Ledger
July 8, 2013

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2013/07/cardinal_timothy_dolans_smokin.html

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York City enters Our Lady of Guadalupe at Monte Mario where he is the titular head on March 10, 2013 in Rome, Italy.

[Cemetery Trust Transfer - All Documents - Jeff Anderson & Associates]

When New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan was in charge of the Catholic Church’s Milwaukee operations, he moved an enormous pot of the church’s cash — $57 million — into a trust fund for cemetery maintenance. Though the archdiocese was in the middle of a gigantic lawsuit over its priests’ sexual abuse of children, Dolan called it routine bookkeeping.

Now the New York Times reports the discovery of a smoking gun: documents including a letter from then-Archbishop Dolan to the Vatican, explaining how the transfer protected the church’s millions in the event it lost in court.

Damning evidence, in 14 words: “I foresee an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability.”

Few believed Dolan then, when he insisted the money was meant to care for Catholic cemeteries. Doubt only grew when the archdiocese declared bankruptcy to shield its riches from the plaintiffs — who as children were raped and molested by priests.

Dolan’s letter is proof that, as its victims sought the only justice available — the statute of limitations for criminal charges expired years earlier, in most cases — the church hurried to hide its treasure.

Newly released documents provide evidence that Dolan tried to protect the church’s vast wealth.

Dolan’s letter is a window into the Milwaukee tenure of Dolan, whom U.S. Catholics have admired as a guide through the decades-long scandal. He has been vocal about the church’s abusive past, apologized and tried to help all sides heal.

Sadly, these documents provide evidence that Dolan also tried to keep the church’s wealth from living victims — by stashing it with the deceased.

Beyond that, it’s another chip at the church’s moral credibility on this issue, similar to the case of Newark Archbishop John J. Myers, who let a priest accused of molesting a boy continue to work with children — even after promising the courts he wouldn’t.

As the documents went public, Milwaukee’s current archbishop warned parishioners: “Prepare to be shocked.”

What could shock Catholics more than this: For decades, their church reassigned molesting priests, rejected credible accusations of abuse and dug in to avoid expensive verdicts. In New Jersey, the church has lobbied against laws giving victims more time to sue, and to exempt the church and its leaders from liability.

Far from shocking, Dolan’s newly revealed actions are, instead, sadly familiar.