MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
April 23, 2013
Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki issued a letter Tuesday suggesting the Catholic Church erred in its handling of a Wauwatosa priest suspended from leading two parishes and schools after a teacher reported what she considered inappropriate contact with a child in March.
Listecki said Father Robert Marsicek’s history of boundary issues involving children called into question the decision to leave him in ministry after it was learned in May 2012 that he was being investigated for alleged sexual abuse of two boys in the late 1980s to 1990s in California.
“While our decisions followed the letter of the law in accordance with existing policies, I am not sure they followed the spirit of the law with regard to our pledge to be vigilant in keeping children safe,” Listecki said in his weekly letter to Catholics in southeastern Wisconsin.
That decision, Listecki said, undermines the progress the church has made in addressing its sex abuse scandal and working to keep children safe in their parishes and schools.
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