CHURCH ABUSE - ARCHBISHOP REMBERT WEAKLAND

Good Morning America | May 23, 2002 | ABC News

[NYer]

MILWAUKEE (AP) _ Roman Catholic Archbishop Rembert Weakland agreed in 1998 to pay $450,000 to a man who accused him of sexual assault, according to documents cited Thursday by ABC News. ABC said the agreement had required Paul J. Marcoux, 53, to keep silent.

``I was involved in a cover-up. I accepted money to be silent about it, not to speak out against what was going on,'' Marcoux said in an interview broadcast on ``Good Morning America.'' Marcoux (pronounced mar COO) said he was sexually assaulted 20 years ago, when he was a student at Marquette University and had gone to the archbishop seeking advice about entering the priesthood.

Marcoux told the network Weakland ``started to try and kiss me and continued to force himself on me, pull down my trousers and attempted to fondle me.'' ``Think of it in terms of date rape,'' Marcoux told ABC.

ABC said as part of the settlement, the archbishop and the archdiocese denied the claims. It said the church declined to comment until the report was aired. Matthew Flynn, an attorney for the archdiocese, reached after the interview aired on the East Coast but before it appeared in Milwaukee, declined comment to The Associated Press. Jerry Topczewski, the spokesman for the archdiocese, did not immediately return calls from the AP.

The network also quoted from an 11-page handwritten letter that it said was written by Weakland. The letter, dated Aug. 25, 1980, said Weakland could not pay Marcoux more than $14,000 to settle the case.

``I should not put down on paper what I would not want the whole world to read. But here goes anyway,'' the letter said. ``I felt like the world's worst hypocrite. So gradually I came back to the importance of celibacy in my life. ...''

The ABC report said Marcoux sought more money in 1997 and the archbishop paid $450,000 to settle the case on condition of secrecy.

AP-ES-05-23-02 0852EDT

[Alberta's Child]

Are you saying that how we characterize what Abp Weakland did depends on his physical strength, on the reaction or response and the age, health and strength of to whom he's accused of doing it?

In a word, YES.

I'll relate a personal story here -- when I was a kid, I had an acquaintance who was approached by a guy with a criminal record as a child molester. This kid was 14, but he looked no older than 11 or so. The guy approached him in some kind of threatening manner, and this kid took one swing at him and dropped him right there on the sidewalk like a wet noodle.

The kid quietly disappeared, and the police were called to the scene. The guy actually claimed that he had been assaulted, but the cops knew all about his history. You could almost see them stifling their laughter as they "searched" for this kid. We, of course, had not seen anything -- in fact, we played right along with it.

"You mean that guy was assaulted by a little kid?"

[CWW]

Your comment hardly warrants a response. How can you compare the Church with the mafia? You take the isolated incidents, most of which occurred over 20 years ago, and assert that the entire Church is a criminal enterprise. What powers of logic and persuasion you have. I guess if we have criminals who are teachers, that means the entire school system is broken and everyone is a criminal. Puleeze! There are 1 billion Catholics worldwide. The acts of 10 or 100 priests are not the acts of the Church. And they certainly are not approved of, as you imply. The Church has done far more good that you can even imagine.

[B Knotts]

So, does this mean that there will still be an exposure of an active homosexual Cardinal, as O'Reilly claimed?

Or, did he just get his Cardinals and Bishops mixed up?

[CWW]

Well, there you have it. You had a bad experience, so eveyone else must have too. Give me a break. Quite frankly, your statements are so anti-Catholic, I question your veracity. Again, even if you're being truthful, you don't speak for me or for the majority of Catholics who have had wonderful parish priests and teschers. Tell me something -- if you were mistreated at a gracery store by a clerk, would you refuse to ever go to a grocery store ever again? That's your argument. It's silly!

[CWW]

Well, there you have it. You had a bad experience, so eveyone else must have too. Give me a break. Quite frankly, your statements are so anti-Catholic, I question your veracity. Again, even if you're being truthful, you don't speak for me or for the majority of Catholics who have had wonderful parish priests and teschers. Tell me something -- if you were mistreated at a gracery store by a clerk, would you refuse to ever go to a grocery store ever again? That's your argument. It's silly!

[patent]

Why oh why oh why couldn't he have outed this jerk years and years ago? How many people have been hurt by not removing Weakland as a Bishop?

patent

[B Knotts]

Do you think he'll actually be removed now? I mean, I like to think that the Pope will use this scandal at the very highest levels to do a serious cleanup of the American Church, but I have to admit, I have my doubts as to whether he's afraid to shake things up as much as is needed.

[B Knotts]

BTW, here's a classic Weakland thread:

Bishop Weakland Scoffs at Church Molestation Scandal

[patent]

He retires shortly. It no longer makes much of a difference if he is removed.

patent

[Steve0113]

Weekland, who has been archbishop for 25 years, is considered one of the most important leaders in the American Catholic Church.

By whom? Nice use of the passive voice. There's no attribution, for good reason.

[arthurus]

It infects all the large Archdioceses in the big cities, as well as the smaller ones <P.OvertimeI think you will see that the orthodox dioceses are mostly unaffected. Their seminaries have judged candidates by their orthodoxy and depth of belief rather than by their Politically correct attitudes and orientations. These dioceses have not loaded up their staffs with feminists and New Agers.

[american colleen]

You are right, he does retire soon, but it makes a big difference for morale/moral reasons if he is removed or at least put on administrative leave, IMO.

[Catspaw]

Tell me something -- if you were mistreated at a gracery store by a clerk, would you refuse to ever go to a grocery store ever again?

Yes. I was treated badly by two clerks at Woodmans in Green Bay, I complained to the manager, and after I found out that they had charged me for an item I didn't purchase, I filed a complaint with Wisconsin's Consumer Protection. I did get my money back (after two months), but never received an apology. Because of that, I have not ever gone near that store again and I never will. See, that's what having a moral compass is all about.

Where is your moral compass? You seem to be willing to join in the litany of excuses, justifications and cover-up of priests who are sexual predators. You're certainly making plenty of excuses for them--and for RAPE. See, that's what we're talking about here--men who used their position of power and influence to sexually abuse and sexually assault children and young adults, used their position of power and influence to make sure the victims weren't believed by law enforcement, got the church hierarchy to cover for them--and used the structure of the church hierarchy to assist them and to cover for them. This is a heirarchy--which also includes sexual predators like Weakland, Goeghan, Shanley and a host of others--who thought they could pay off the victims of rapists and pedophiles to keep them quiet, and making sure the families of the victims would be discouraged or blocked from going to law enforcement to make sure these rapists weren't punished.

[LouD]

Mr. Weak-knees is not my bishop, although I am unfortunate enough to live in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

He's a pathetic excuse for a Catholic - He's a socialist leftist apologist, who didn't even have the cojones to display a "Respect Life" banner on the Cathedral when Algore had his campaign rally right in front of it at Cathedral Square. He is the absolute antithesis of the Holy Father, and is held in near-unversal contempt by any real Catholic in the Archdiocese.

Milwaukee-area Catholics are counting the days until he is gone - He has reached mandatory retirement age, and we are waiting for a replacement.

[B Knotts]

Well, it makes no practical difference, but it sure would help to send a message, no?

[irishfest]

Thank you for putting the "crisis" in proper perspective.
The Catholic Church should purge the criminals from its ranks. My faith in Jesus Christ is not based on what human leaders do or do not accomplish.
Remember all of us have been given the gift of choosing to do right or wrong by God. Simply because there have been a rash of men in the church that chose to do wrong does not diminish my right and gift to do right. I continually thank the Lord for that gift.

[Steve0113]

He retires shortly.

Yep. He recently attained mandatory-retirement age. He will not be missed, except by fellow heretics.

[patent]

True, I'm just depressed that this couldn't have come out years ago.

[B Knotts]

He has reached mandatory retirement age, and we are waiting for a replacement.

While I doubt the Holy Father is a FReeper, I'll make the appropriate suggestion for a replacement here:

Bishop Bruskewitz