BALTIMORE (MD)
Baltimore Sun
June 7, 2019
By Jonathan M. Pitts
The president of a national group that monitors the conduct of Roman Catholic priests criticized Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori on Thursday for his role in a report to the Vatican that omitted information about large gifts Lori and other bishops received.
Terry McKiernan of Bishop-Accountability.org said Lori’s decision to delete mention that he and other high-ranking clerics had been given cash gifts over the years by West Virginia bishop Michael J. Bransfield — whom Lori was investigating — was “head-shaking.”
Lori had been charged by the Vatican with investigating Bransfield over allegations that included lavish spending of church funds.
McKiernan said Lori’s editing of a draft report was “especially embarrassing” because it created the appearance of Lori “participating in the very malfeasance he had been brought in to put a stop to.”
“There’s nothing good you can say about it,” McKiernan said.
In September, Pope Francis asked for the resignation of Bransfield, the longtime bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in West Virginia, in the wake of allegations he had engaged in a pattern of sexual and financial misconduct throughout his 13 years in the position.
The pope appointed Lori to oversee the diocese on an interim basis and gave him the authority to direct an investigation into the allegations against Bransfield.
The five-person lay panel Lori assembled to run the inquiry completed a detailed report in February.
The report found that Bransfield had indeed behaved inappropriately toward multiple priests and seminarians, including “a consistent pattern of sexual innuendo and overt suggestive comments and actions toward those … over whom [he] had authority,” and spent millions in diocesan funds on travel, liquor, luxury items and more.
It also reported that Bransfield gave more than $350,000 in gifts to fellow clergymen. Recipients included Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who recently retired as the Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, and Lori, who was listed as a recipient of at least $7,500.
But Lori asked that the names of all gift recipients, including himself and other top clerics, be left out.
The Washington Post discovered the discrepancy between the drafts as part of an investigation into the Bransfield case and published a story describing the edits Wednesday.
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