CHARLESTON (WV)
ChurchMilitant.com
July 22, 2019
By Stephen Wynne
Critics slam paltry penalties for corrupt former West Virginia bishop
Amid an ongoing inquiry into financial malfeasance and sex abuse cover-up in West Virginia, the Vatican is imposing sanctions on Bp. Michael Bransfield, former head of the diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.
In a July 19 communiqué, Wheeling-Charleston announced that based on the investigation’s findings, Pope Francis has decreed that Bp. Emeritus Bransfield is prohibited from residing in the diocese; is banned from presiding or participating in any public celebration of the Liturgy; and is obliged to “make personal amends for some of the harm he caused,” with “the nature and extent of the amends to be decided in consultation with the future Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston.”
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