WAUSAU (WI)
Wausau Daily Herald
Jan. 28, 2019
By Laura Schulte
At least two more Catholic dioceses in Wisconsin plan to open their archives in search of abusive clergy members throughout their history.
Representatives for the Diocese of Superior and the Diocese of La Crosse both said their organizations will review their files, following the release by the Diocese of Green Bay last week of a list of 46 priests who had sexually abused minors.
Neither Superior nor La Crosse provided a date that any list would be finished or made public.
Dan Blank, director of administrative services for the Diocese of Superior, said Bishop James Powers has conferred with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for advice on how to conduct an investigation of clergy abuse.
However, results of the investigation wouldn’t be available for months, Blank said, because the diocese will have to go back to the beginning of its 114-year history to check for names.
“We’d start with priests that are alive and then go further back,” he said.
The Superior diocese would also likely cooperate with a state Department of Justice investigation, Blank said, if Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul decides to order such a probe.
The diocese would release relevant documents if there is a state investigation, Blank said.
“We’re taking the approach that facts are facts,” he said.
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