WISCONSIN
Wisconsin State Journal

[Away from diocesan work, Robert Morlino is an easygoing guy who keeps it light]

DOUG ERICKSON | Wisconsin State Journal | derickson@madison.com | 608-252-6149

Center of controversy

Catholic Bishop Robert Morlino has found himself at the center of numerous controversies and dust-ups in the past decade. A sampling:

ISSUE: Six months into his tenure, Morlino wrote in the Catholic Herald newspaper that Madison appears to be a community that has “a high comfort level with virtually no public morality.” The episode outraged many residents and kicked off a continuing parlor game of parsing his every utterance.

OUTCOME: Morlino said he meant no offense and was merely pointing out that there are few common starting points for discussions about moral reasoning in such a diverse city.

ISSUE: In 2005, Morlino joined a federal advisory board for the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, a training…