Setting the record straight in the case of abusive Milwaukee priest Father Lawrence Murphy

Catholic Anchor ^ | March 29, 2010 | By Fr. THOMAS BRUNDAGE, JLC

[lastchance]

To provide context to this article, I was the Judicial Vicar for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee from 1995-2003. During those years, I presided over four canonical criminal cases, one of which involved Father Lawrence Murphy. Two of the four men died during the process. God alone will judge these men.

To put some parameters on the following remarks, I am writing this article with the express knowledge and consent of Archbishop Roger Schwietz, OMI, the Archbishop of Anchorage, where I currently serve. Archbishop Schwietz is also the publisher of the Catholic Anchor newspaper.

I will limit my comments, because of judicial oaths I have taken as a canon lawyer and as an ecclesiastical judge. However, since my name and comments in the matter of the Father Murphy case have been liberally and often inaccurately quoted in the New York Times and in more than 100 other newspapers and on-line periodicals, I feel a freedom to tell part of the story of Father Murphy’s trial from ground zero.

As I have found that the reporting on this issue has been inaccurate and poor in terms of the facts, I am also writing out of a sense of duty to the truth.

The fact that I presided over this trial and have never once been contacted by any news organization for comment speaks for itself.

My intent in the following paragraphs is to accomplish the following:

To tell the back-story of what actually happened in the Father Murphy case on the local level;

To outline the sloppy and inaccurate reporting on the Father Murphy case by the New York Times and other media outlets;

[lastchance]

Excellent article on the Father Murphy case from the priest who was the Judicial Vicar.

For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, Have Mercy On Us and On The Whole World.

I have been very saddened by the full embrace of the media lies about Pope Benedict by so many who usually disdain the liberal MSM as a source of factual information.

God Protect The Church and Pope Benedict.