WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer
July 7, 2019
Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. Lori led the investigation into the former bishop in West Virginia, Michael Bransfield.
Editor’s note: Fallout from the 13-year tenure of former Wheeling-Charleston Diocese bishop Michael Bransfield continues, as an investigative report leaked last month details excessive spending by the bishop and sexual harassment of priests and seminarians. Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore is currently serving as apostolic administrator in West Virginia, and was charged by Pope Francis with leading the investigation into Bransfield’s time in West Virginia.
Lori faces potential conflicts of his own with the investigation, as he was one of a number of priests to receive upward of $350,000 from Bransfield — money that then was reimbursed to the former bishop through diocesan funds. Lori sat down with the Sunday News-Register last week in Baltimore to talk about the church in West Virginia and its future, his investigation, the issues that have been raised with how the report was handled and the reforms he’s putting in place for the next bishop.
– The Catholic Church in West Virginia has had a challenging year, as fallout from the tenure of former bishop Michael Bransfield continues. There’s been a finding of excessive spending; credible allegations of sexual harassment of young priests; alleged kickbacks and overpayment of doctors at Wheeling Hospital that now has the hospital — and thus the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, which is its owner — the subject of a federal lawsuit from the U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh; the closing of diocesan schools. All of these things and others happened during Bishop Michael Bransfield’s 13 years in West Virginia. In your opinion, what is Michael Bransfield’s legacy in West Virginia?
Archbishop Lori: You mentioned a lot of very difficult things that happened under his tenure during his time as bishop of Wheeling-Charleston. Those are difficult things, and those things will unfortunately be part of his legacy. I would like to make a distinction, though, between the things that pertain to his own personal comportment and style as a bishop, which pertain to him personally, as opposed to the things that the bishop faced in trying to administer the diocese. With regard to his own person, the things that are roiling us all now are, indeed, the overspending, his own personal behavior, the lack of controls — those kinds of things are very troubling to people, and those are the things we hope the new bishop will address.
But there are other things that every bishop has to worry about, and one of them is sustaining Catholic schools when the enrollment goes down. Administering a hospital in this day and age is a very challenging business for anyone; while there is a lawsuit underway, I might mention that we have new management at the hospital, I might also mention that it’s a really great hospital. It didn’t get that way (by accident); it’s really a good hospital because there’s been a lot of care and attention given to it, and it’s a major employer there in Wheeling.
So the bishop, like every bishop, he had to face some challenges, like every bishop he did some very good things in the diocese but unfortunately I think the things that showed energy and vision have been in some sense really undermined by issues of personal behavior. That’s most regrettable.
– The legacy Michael Bransfield leaves behind — the spending, the sexual harassment allegations, let’s focus on those in particular because those issues are what prompted you now to oversee the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston as its apostolic administrator — what was the damage done to the Diocese and the faithful in West Virginia by these actions?
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