MILWAUKEE (WI)
National Catholic Reporter
Marie Rohde | Jul. 1, 2014
MILWAUKEE Former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland had planned to move to a Benedictine abbey, but the abbot has rescinded the invitation.
“This past week the abbot of my monastery in Latrobe phoned me to say he did not think it was a good time to return there,” Weakland said in an email to NCR Sunday, the same day a story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel announced he would move to the St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pa. Weakland joined the community of monks at the age of 18 and spent much of his time there over the next 20 years.
The Vatican recently laicized a Latrobe monk accused of misconduct, Mark Gruber, whose presence was creating some turmoil in the community. “The atmosphere was not a good one for me to return to,” Weakland wrote. “Thus I will not be returning to Latrobe right now and at age 87 one never know what can happen in the future.”
In Milwaukee, Weakland leads a low-profile life. He lives alone in an apartment and is said to attend daily Mass. He has no public role in the church, and when the current archbishop celebrates Mass and prays for the pope and bishops living in the diocese by name, Weakland is not mentioned. He was not allowed to deliver a homily at an annual priest retreat some years ago.
Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, leader of the Latrobe community, did not respond to calls from NCR.
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