MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel June 28, 2014
Retired Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland, a once-towering figure who diminished his legacy by his handling of the clergy sexual abuse crisis in southeastern Wisconsin and his own sex scandal, is returning in old age to the Benedictine abbey where he began his religious life more than 70 years ago.
Weakland, 87 and increasingly frail, has told friends he will be moving by Sept. 1 from his Milwaukee condo to the St. Vincent Archabbey, a community of monks in Latrobe, Pa., about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
A group of local priests is planning a farewell luncheon in July, an event that is already drawing criticism from abuse survivors.
“It’s an opportunity to express our thanks and appreciation, and to say farewell and God bless you as you go to the next phase in your life,” said Father David Cooper of St. Matthias Parish, the head of the local priests alliance that is organizing the send-off.
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