WHEELING (WV)
Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
June 5, 2019
By Archbishop William Lori
As you know, last September, upon the Holy Father’s acceptance of the resignation of
former Wheeling-Charleston Bishop Michael J. Bransfield, I was appointed by the Holy See to
serve as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese and assigned to commission a preliminary
investigation into allegations of sexual harassment of adults and financial improprieties
committed by the former bishop. In March, at the time of the investigation’s conclusion, I
reported to you that I appointed five lay investigators – both Catholic and non-Catholic alike – of
with professional competency in civil law, finance, human resources, and canon law, to conduct
the investigation. Their work occurred over a five-month period and included interviews with
dozens of individuals who had worked closely with the former bishop and interacted with him
in a variety of ways, and whose knowledge and perspective would inform the findings. As I
shared with you two months ago, I submitted the preliminary investigation to the Holy See for
final judgment and suspended Bishop Bransfield’s priestly and episcopal faculties within the
Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and the Archdiocese of Baltimore, as was my prerogative to do
so as the Metropolitan Archbishop and as the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of
Wheeling-Charleston.
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