MILWAUKEE (WI)
Equities
United Press International
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, approved payments to priests suspected of abuse in the Milwaukee archdiocese, church documents show.
A spokesman for the church in Milwaukee said the payments, some as high as $20,000, were made to encourage priests to resign and not to challenge the decision to remove them from the priesthood, The New York Times reported Thursday.
“It was a way to provide an incentive to go the voluntary route and make it happen quickly, and ultimately cost less,” Jerry Topczewski said Wednesday. “Their cooperation made the process a lot more expeditious.”
Dolan served as archbishop of Milwaukee from 2002 to 2009, when Pope Benedict XVI named him head of the New York archdiocese, the highest-profile position in the U.S. Catholic Church. He became a cardinal in 2012.
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