WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register
September 12, 2020
By Alan Olson
A letter addressed to the Most Rev. Mark Brennan, bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, from two groups representing lay Catholics seeks further action taken in the wake of disgraced former bishop Michael Bransfield’s ignoble resignation.
The letter, which was sent Sept. 3 to Brennan, comes from Morgantown-based Lay Catholic Voices for Change, and ACT: A Church Together, which lists a Wheeling address, which represent lay, or non-clergy, members of the Roman Catholic Church.
“We speak for countless members of the Catholic Church in West Virginia when we say: ‘Our faith has not been destroyed but our trust in our church leaders has been devastated,’” the letter states.
The letter outlines several requests of Brennan and the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.
First, an apology from Brennan, on behalf of the diocese, is sought.
The letter states that while Brennan did not oversee Bransfield’s actions — which allegedly include a decades-long pattern of sexual harassment and abuse of men under his authority and wildly extravagant spending of church funds for the personal use of Brandfield and his friends — Brennan is now responsible for the actions and response of the diocese to his actions.
The letter cites embarrassment on the part of young Catholics to embrace their faith, due to Bransfield’s actions, the damage to the faith community due to his actions, and the decline of Wheeling University — formerly Wheeling Jesuit University — along with Mount de Chantal Academy, and Bishop Donahue High School, all of which suffered under Bransfield’s administration.
It also calls for the Revs. Frederick Annie, Kevin Quirk and Anthony Cincinnati to be removed from their posts throughout the diocese.
The three clerics were identified in an internal report as serving as Bransfield’s henchmen, recruiting young priests and seminarians to serve and suffer under Bransfield, dismissing reports and concerns about his abuses, and doing nothing while observing the man’s behavior.
The letter also calls for an inquiry into a potential pattern of child sexual abuse Bransfield may have undertaken. According to the internal investigation, Bransfield was allegedly described as acting in a predatory manner to altar servers at the Cathedral of St. Joseph. Quirk allegedly told investigators that he actively attempted to ensure Bransfield wasn’t left alone with the boys; despite this, the report indicates that no evidence existed to support the allegations, although there was “significant reason for concern that this occurred.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.