MILWAUKEE — An ex-priest who received $20,000 from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to leave the ministry after he was accused of sexual abuse says he viewed the payment as charity to help him readjust to a new way of life.As commenter Kat noted yesterday: Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Even parolees usually get gate money, and they've got a transitional program ready to ease them back into society. It's called the whole "mercy" thing. Sheesh.
The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, however, considers that payment and others made to other suspected pedophile priests a payoff or bonus. Details of the payments came to light in a bankruptcy document filed by the archdiocese.
Jerome Wagner said Thursday he used the money to go mortuary school after leaving his parish in Fond du Lac in 2002. The archdiocese has acknowledged Wagner was accused of sexual abuse of a minor, but he was not charged criminally.
I don't want to lessen the severity of the abuse that occurred, nor the fact that reparations need to be made. But what is the end-goal of taking the counter point and protesting every.single.thing the Archdiocese did?
Do we not have an obligation to sinners, as well?
When I was in high school and college, I worked at Holy Hill. A certain GB Packer player who was, shall we say, involved in a bit of a scandal with an underage girl and a drinking party would come up to Holy Hill every so often. At the time, I thought, how could the Church welcome this man, who (allegedly) did such a horrible thing? But are we not all sinners, and is not the Church a place of refuge of sinners? Judge not...
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