Can Baltimore’s archbishop bring accountability to West Virginia’s Catholic Church?

BALTIMORE (MD)
Baltimore Sun

December 5, 2018

By Vincent DeGeorge

Pope Francis in late August appointed Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori to lead an investigation into the alleged “sexual harassment of adults” by former Catholic bishop Michael J. Bransfield of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, which comprises all of West Virginia. However, Archbishop Lori’s own record and actions seem to demonstrate a church “protectionism” that comes at the expense of transparency and accountability.

In 2002, when he was Bishop of Bridgeport, Conn., Archbishop Lori participated in writing the Dallas Charter, the U.S. Catholic Church’s most substantial accountability policy document on clerical sexual abuse which purports “zero tolerance.” However, here Archbishop Lori contributed to removing bishops from accountability under this document saying that the drafting committee “would limit it to priests and deacons, as the disciplining of bishops is beyond the purview of this document.”

Archbishop Lori also fought a multi-year legal battle to keep hidden Bridgeport clerical sex abuse records, some dating back as far as the 1960s, instead of readily complying with a state order to make them public. Archbishop Lori’s containment efforts finally ended in 2009 when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block the release of documents.

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