Archdiocese of Milwaukee sex-abuse victims push for more open records

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel June 28, 2013

The Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which faces more than a dozen civil fraud lawsuits over its handling of clergy sex abuse cases, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. As the case proceeds, we’ll have updates, analysis, documents and more.

Monica Barrett has waited for years to learn what the Archdiocese of Milwaukee knew about Father William Effinger, who raped her, she says, when she was a child at a Lake Geneva parish.

Her wait is scheduled to end Monday when the archdiocese releases thousands of pages of documents detailing its handling of clergy sex-abuse cases going back decades, as part of its bankruptcy.

Barrett stood Friday with other abuse survivors outside Milwaukee’s Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist to herald the release as a historic moment that would vindicate victims. But it is not enough, they said.

The survivors and their supporters called on the archdiocese to release all of its files — not just those concerning the 42 current and former diocesan priests covered in Monday’s release, but those of every known abuser.

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