NEW YORK
Timothy Cardinal Dolan
Just a few items to share with you.
For one, late tonight I leave for Rome, summoned there, along with my brother Cardinals from around the world, by Pope Francis. Your intentions accompany me, and I already look forward to returning back here in a week. …
Since I was elected to the Permanent Council for the Synod of Bishops, I must remain in Rome Monday and Tuesday for all day meetings of that council.
Two, you know how I always try to alert you to any potentially negative publicity about the Church, or about me. Well, there could be some. My home archdiocese of St. Louis just complied with a court order to release the documents regarding cases there of sexual abuse of minors. (Cardinal Egan already did that here a decade ago, sharing all of the information we had on abusive priests with proper district attorneys, something we continue to do today.)
Anyway, since I was an auxiliary bishop in St. Louis for a year (2001-02), and vicar for priests for nine of those twelve months, I would anticipate that my name will again be highlighted in the press. I sure have nothing to hide, and am very much at peace with law enforcements officials reviewing the files. In fact, we already released all the documentation to them a dozen years ago!
This will be, I suspect, a repeat of last year’s attempt by the same tort lawyers to muddy my name. A year ago, they contended- – remember?- -that while Archbishop of Milwaukee I had “hidden funds”, and they had even deposed me. Nothing of course ever came of it, although the ever-compliant press here gave me headlines about being deposed. (The headlines were much smaller when the Judge eventually ruled that I had acted properly.) However, knowing how their attorneys operate, and some reporters here cooperate with them, I would anticipate some attempt at bad publicity again. I’ll keep you posted…
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