Celebrating Our Baptism ... Again and Again and Again

Retired Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba's collection of memorial cards from funerals inspired this recent Herald of Hope column for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's Catholic Herald weekly.

"The cards invariably record dates of birth and death, sometimes ordination or marriage, and occasionally include a picture, biblical citation or a favorite prayer.

"Almost never do we find the date of a baptism noted..."

This strikes him as strange.

"...initial membership in God’s eternal family marks us forever, and consequently its anniversary should really be celebrated every year."

He's been practicing what he preaches.

"On the anniversary of my baptism, I always pray for the priest (Fr. Henry Novotny) who baptized me at old Holy Trinity Parish in Racine and for my long-deceased godparents (Mary and Joe)."

'Eucharist without Walls' and vice versa

On November 30, the First Sunday of Advent, 1997, our Archdiocese of Milwaukee published Eucharist without Walls: A Vision for the Church for the Year 2000, a pastoral letter by Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland and Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba.

If it's currently at our Archdiocese's website, I was unable to find it there. I did locate it at the Internet Archive.

The sequel, Eucharist without Walls: Part II, a pastoral letter by Archbishop Weakland, was issued on the First Sunday of Advent, November 28, 1999. While I did not turn it up at ArchMil.org, it also is still available at the Internet Archive. In it, Archbishop Weakland's closing included,

"What would be my hope for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee during the Jubilee Year? I am permitted to dream: That on Every Sunday the Masses would be so well Attended that one would think Every Sunday was Christmas or Easter. Why should it not be so?"

Since he asked, one item I did find at our Archdiocese's website was the report of mass attendance 2002-2016, showing a decline from 215,199 to 134,174. That's an average decline of about 5786 per year. If that average numerical decline continues, attendance will be zero after about another twenty-three years, 2039.

That's about the same life expectancy I calculated in 2006 (See this post at my blog). That calculation was based on declining membership rather than declining Mass attendance, and projected hitting zero in 2040.

Bishop Richard Sklba 'Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue' January 6th in Milwauee

Our monthly First Friday Mass and Meeting is January 6th.

We are very pleased to have Bishop Richard J. Sklba, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, as our January speaker. Among his many duties and interests, Bishop Sklba served as the Catholic Co-Chair for the national Lutheran/Catholic Dialogue for over 12 years, and as Chair of the USCCB's Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for three years. A 2011 book, The Hope of Eternal Life (Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue), is the fruit of a study project Bishop Sklba facilitated with many participants. October of 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of Luther's 95 Theses. Altogether, it is quite timely to have Bishop Sklba lead a discussion about Lutheran / Catholic Relations: the path and journey toward reconciliation.

Mass will be celebrated at 7:30 A.M. in the Chapel of St. Edmund Campion, located on the 4th floor of Eckstein Hall (Marquette University Law School). Mass will be followed by our meeting and discussion from 8:00-9:00 A.M., which includes a continental breakfast (suggested donation $4.00). Parking is available in the Eckstein Hall underground parking structure. (Enter the lot, pull a ticket, and find an open parking space. Once parked, take the elevator to main floor, which opens to the foyer, and go to the welcome desk to get your parking ticket validated.)

via St. Thomas More Soc of Wis.

Across ArchMil - weeks of December 29th 2014 and January 5th 2015

Annysa Johnson reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Father Robert Harrison, a Capuchin priest with Milwaukee ties removed for sex abuse "... after admitting that he sexually abused minors in Milwaukee and New York in the 1970s and '80s ...
"Between the 1960s and 70s, he served at St. Francis and St. Benedict the Moor parishes in Milwaukee, the St. Francis Friary, and the Carmelite School for Boys in Wauwatosa ...
"He also appears to have taught at St. Francis School and Messmer High School ..."

The Associated Press reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel $500,000 at stake for Catholic Church in Nevada sex case appeal. "The Nevada case alleged that Feeney's [Fr. John Patrick Feeney, since deceased] conduct was well known in Wisconsin, but the Green Bay diocese failed to notify officials in Nevada." These facts bear some resemblance to those in the California case that resulted in our Archdiocese of Milwaukee paying $8.25 million as its approximately one-half share of a 2006 settlement of ten claims of sexual abuse by two priests. (See Life after ‘terrible storm clouds of California’, by Brian T. Olszewski in the Milwaukee Catholic Herald.)

The Wisconsin Catholic Conference announced that "With the start of the new legislative session, WCC staff will resume regular publication of the Capitol Update every two weeks, with special updates as events warrant."

From the Chancery

At the Our Faith blog, Archbishop Listecki lists his Top 10 Year Events. He means the top ten from last year, not the top from the last ten years, but either way he'd probably have picked "1. The Archdiocesan Synod...". He's also Saying Goodbye to Bishop Hying.

Brian T. Olszewski reviews Archbishop Listecki's five years here as Building upon 'deep faith' of the community. "The archbishop said that he knew he wanted to do a synod, and felt that the archdiocese should do a synod, 'but there were many voices that did not want to do it, didn’t think it was the right time.'" Makes me wonder why he wasted people's time asking their opinion when he'd already made up his mind. It raises the question if that wasn't a real consultation, why should we think the Synod itself was?

Here's a promotional video for Catholic Schools 2014-15 in our Archdiocese. "It's an education you can have faith in!" The question is do the statistics show it's an education your kids will have faith after.

In these recent Catholic ID videos, Rich Harter talks about Clean Thoughts, "Do thoughts & words matter? Yes, they really do", and the Messiah Identified, "Man? Prophet? Messiah? Who is Jesus to you?".

In the Herald of Hope column in the Milwaukee Catholic Herald, Bishop Sklba manages to find in The Gift of the Magi: Welcoming the unwanted.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court (E.D. Wis.)

There's a Notice of Hearing January 15, 2015, at 11:00 a.m. on a Motion of some creditors objecting to the redaction by our Archdiocese of names of some abuse victims from the documents supporting its pending motion to dismiss some claims. The issue is whether these victims are potential witnesses whose testimony might be relevant to dismissal.

St. Francis Seminary invites women to the de Chantal Society, "Gatherings include eucharistic adoration, benediction and spiritual formation, followed by an informal reception", and invites everyone to the Salzmann Library Book Discussion Group (though book discussion groups seem to skew female).

In the Milwaukee Catholic Herald

Tracy Rusch reported that, just as Archbishop Listecki said, 2014 Year in Review: Archdiocesan Synod was main event. By my count, the item-by-item listing gave the Archdiocesan bankruptcy a 9-2 lead over the Synod.

Ms. Rusch also compiled the staff's choices for the Most inspirational people of 2014.

Maryangela Layman Roman also reported on Fr. Robert Harrison, the Capuchin with Milwaukee ties removed from public ministry in New York.

In a recent column which the Herald retitles Our differences are a gift from God, Fr. Ronald Rolheiser says "Similarly for how we conceive of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, how we imagine Christ as being really present inside of bread and wine, can take many forms and can be spoken of in different ways, without it meaning that we’re speaking of a different reality." Similarly except for "imagine" and "inside".

Lay Organizations

There's a "Reflection: Why Believe? By Frank Pauc" in the January 2015 Catholics for Peace and Justice Newsletter. "As Catholics, we believe that bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ." Well, it's probably safe to assume that's literally the opposite of what he meant.

"Dr. Duke Pesta to discuss ;C.S. Lewis and Faith in a Faithless World' on Jan. 18" at St. John the Evangelist Church in Greenfield, according to the local CUF Chapter January 2015 newsletter. Good to see the interdict of Dr. Pesta at St. John's is limited to his criticizing Common Core.

Lenze provides "Two Reflections on being homeless in Milwaukee" in the latest Case Maria newsletter. There are also some of the corniest jokes this side of a homily.

Around ArchMil - weeks of August 11th and 18th

From the Chancery

Saints, Fascinating Figures, and World Crises, by Archbishop Listecki, Our Faith blog

The Lord's Prayer, and Faithful Fasting, Catholic ID videos at YouTube

Vatican II Awards. "On Tuesday, September 23, 2014, 15 individuals will receive the Archbishop’s Vatican II Award for Distinguished Service for outstanding contributions to the Church and society."

In the Milwaukee Catholic Herald

Parish janitors: Helping hands, ready tools, Herald of Hope column by Bishop Richard J. Sklba. "They ... know the location of all the keys..."

Alive 'n' Kickin' plans to roll despite setbacks, by Karen Mahoney, on Greg Gesch. "The Wauwatosa resident and director of Alive ‘n’ Kickin’, a mobile ultrasound ministry, is more concerned that the mobile crisis pregnancy clinic is not on the road than he is about his health crisis."

Grandma's statue finds home in Wisconsin chapel, by Patricia Kasten. the replica statue of 'Our Lady of Loucim', "an image of Mary dating to 1400 in Bohemia", belonged to Lee Thompson, of Mother of Good Counsel Parish, Milwaukee. Frank Lax, a Bohemian immigrant, built the chapel alongside a rural road near St. Nazianz, Wisconsin, in 1875.

43 years later, my second retreat, by Brian T. Olszewski. (Sounds circumstantially like he's returned to the scene of a mandatory Catholic high school retreat.)

Ten Secrets to Happiness, column by Ron Rolheiser, OMI. "In presenting these, I will be faithful to his [Pope Francis's] captions but, because his commentary on each one was rather lengthy, I will risk synthesizing his central point in my own words..."

Among the Parishes and Schools

Marquette changes Foley memorial to Tuesday, by Annysa Johnson, FaithWatch, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "The vigil will be at 6 p.m. Aug. 26 in the Chapel of the Holy Family on the second floor of the Alumni Memorial Union, 1442 W. Wisconsin Ave."

Remembering Fr. Vic Capriolo, by Steve Wideman, Milwaukee Catholic Herald (Holy Family Church, Fond du Lac)

Good Shepherd mourns murder in sister parish of El Salvador, by Annysa Johnson, FaithWatch, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Although the motive is unclear, some said he had been speaking out against the local gangs that have terrorized nearby communities, said Chuck Koenings, who chairs Good Shepherd's Ellacuria El Salvador Committee."

P.S. At No Spin Homilies, Father Dan Volkert's for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary time

Lay Organizations

Bishop Robert C. Morlino to receive Msgr. Popek Award, October 19, 2014, Milwaukee Chapter of Catholics United for the Faith

U.S. Bankruptcy Court (E.D. Wis.)

Archdiocese, sex abuse victims heading to mediation — again, by Annysa Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Order for Appearance at Mediation "At St. Paul, Minnesota ... September 8 to 9, 2014, commencing at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, September 8, 2014."

Bishop Sklba authors 605-page ‘retirement project’

For Bishop Richard J. Sklba, “Fire Starters” is a compilation of the study, prayer, reflection and pastoral creativity that have been part of his more than 54 years of priesthood. Thus, it is fitting that a volume devoted to the homily at daily Mass includes a declaration that the author preaches and practices.

“I’ve been praying about the readings, as a personal practice, for decades. As the years go by, I continue to see more and more in those readings – the more applications, the more people I deal with, the more pastoral implications I am exposed to, the more I see the Word continues to have an application,” said Milwaukee’s retired auxiliary bishop.

A year before his retirement on Oct. 18, 2010, shortly after his 75th birthday, Bishop Sklba was looking for “a project that would bridge into retirement because I have said to individuals, to priests, for years, ‘You don’t retire from something; you retire to something.’”

He continued, “I wanted a project that might possibly take what I had experienced and prayed over and put it at the service of other people.”

Since moving to Old St. Mary Church, Milwaukee, seven and a half years ago, Bishop Sklba has celebrated the parish’s 7 a.m. Mass on Mondays and Wednesdays when he is in town.

continue at MkeCH

Fox6: Deposition of Bishop Sklba released with church documents

Years ago, FOX6 News showed you the video deposition of Archbishop Rembert Weakland as it relates to clergy sex abuse cases within the Milwaukee Archdiocese. [I see SNAP posted bits and pieces, is the whole thing available in video form?] Now, we’re learning more about Weakland’s right-hand man.

The deposition of Bishop Richard Sklba was released on Monday, July 1st. Now retired, Sklba is a Vicar — or higher-ranking clergy member — at times, representing other priests.

Bishop Sklba was a priest for nearly 52 years. He knew much about the laws of church leadership. But when asked about some of the training outside of Scripture, he was at times, less knowledgeable.

In 2011 court documents, Sklba was asked if there was training to detect sexual abuse. His answers were not forthcoming. When asked if there was training for priests to manage their sexual lives so they would not engage in sexual abuse, Sklba found the tone offensive.

Eventually, Sklba admitted it was practice to report abuse to civil authorities only if the victim who reported it was under the age of 18. Further, he said if an adult came to him with a concern, he would suggest they go to civil authorities, adding it was not within his range of experience to do otherwise.

Sometimes the church kept logs about abuse allegations — sometimes it didn’t.

When asked if Sklba had any suspicions about abuse involving Ronald Bandle, James Beck or Michael Benham — all now labeled clergy offenders by the Archdiocese — he replied, not at all.

continue at Fox6

I'll probably just do a roundup in a week or so with the rest of these stories. 

Dad29: SNAP Is Right About Sklba

A headbutt follows?

SNAP's presser following the doc-dump on pedophile priests in Milwaukee:

...Sklba’s fingerprints are spread over nearly a quarter of a century of child sex crimes. Yet, he continues to hold a prominent role in the life of the Archdiocese, presiding at confirmations, masses at the cathedral, and living comfortably and well.

At a bare minimum, Sklba should gracefully bow out of public life in the Archdiocese like Weakland has, and be grateful he has not been prosecuted—as he should be—for criminal conspiracy. And if he doesn’t do that — it’s time for his boss, Jerome Listecki, to do it for him.”...

Absolutely correct.

Dad29

Not to mention that awkward, glorious sendoff from the archdiocesan newspaper....

Photo

TPE: The hole truth

SNAP took the occasion of the Archdiocesan Mass of Atonement to press Archbishop Listecki to drop opposition to a motion by attorneys for sexual abuse victim-creditors in our Archdiocese's bankruptcy to unseal some documents, including depositions, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.


"'Atonement, if it is genuine, means that you must first stop hurting victims right now and covering up right now,' victim-survivor Michael Sneesby, Milwaukee director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said in a statement."

The most blatant "covering up" is de-emphasizing the main reason for the crisis, that bishops left known child-molesting priests in place or re-assigned them, rather than remove them. An example of such virtual omission is Archbishop Listecki's recent statement, ironically titled Addressing False Implications. The closest he comes is quoting Pope Benedict XVI saying the matter was “sometimes very badly handled by Church leaders."

continue at The Provincial Emails

500-plus sex-abuse claims filed against Milwaukee archdiocese as deadline looms

More than 500 people have filed sex abuse claims in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy in advance of today’s 4 p.m. deadline. It is the largest number of claims among the eight Catholic dioceses to seek bankruptcy protection since 2004 in response to sex abuse allegations, and on par with a Jesuit bankruptcy that covered five states.

Victims and their attorneys called the numbers staggering and just the tip of the iceberg, noting that statistically only a small percentage of sex abuse victims come forward.

Archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski said the church had cast a wide net for victims in compliance with the court's instructions, and had no expectations regarding the numbers that would come in. He reiterated Archbishop Jerome Listecki’s assertion that it would seek to bar all claims it is not obligated to cover under bankruptcy law, regardless of whether the abuse occurred.

continue at MJS FaithWatch

Although staggering, MJS does support prosecution of dead priests(and was written with that intent).  Pray for all those victims out there, and that the archdiocese owns up where it needs to.   But remember when reading these reports; MJS wants to literally shut down the Church in Wisconsin, so take the report with a grain of salt. 

Weakland, Sklba to take the stand!

Retired Milwaukee bishops Rembert Weakland and Richard Sklba will answer questions under oath in October about the extent and alleged coverup of child sex abuse in the archdiocese, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley ruled on Friday.

However, that testimony won't be available to the public, at least initially.

Kelley granted a request by survivor-creditors to question the two, along with defrocked priest Daniel A. Budzynski, who is believed to have molested several children, as part of the church's bankruptcy proceedings.

The judge scheduled the questionings for the weeks of Oct. 17 and 24. But she imposed strict limits on their duration and ordered them sealed from public view.

"I don't want this on anybody's website," said Kelley, a reference to victims' attorney Jeff Anderson's distribution of Weakland's 2008 questioning, in which the retired archbishop referred to Sklba as his "go-to guy" in the handling of sex abuse cases.

"This isn't about embarrassing these people. This is about giving the parties relief," Kelley said.

MJS

Caption contest

Bp Sklba, Bishop Hying, Abp Dolan

MJS OnTap

Enter your caption ideas below and winner gets .... well bragging rights for now.

Freudian slip?

Because of an editing error, the caption to a photograph accompanying an article in Thursday's print edition about the installation of Bishop Donald Hying incorrectly stated that retired Archbishop Rembert Weakland was shown with Hying and former Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan. That person actually was Bishop Richard Sklba.

MJS

Weakland, Sklba to take the stand?

Abp Weakland to this point
has avoided the stand

Attorneys for victim-creditors[SNAP] in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's bankruptcy have asked the court to lift the stay on pending civil cases so they can depose aging witnesses, including retired bishops and accused priests.

Victims are seeking to depose retired Archbishop Rembert Weakland; retired Auxiliary Bishop Richard Sklba; former Assistant Chancellor Father Joseph Janicki; and seven restricted or laicized priests who appear on the archdiocese's online list of priests with credible accusations of sex abuse against them.

They say the bankruptcy has brought forward new allegations and that depositions are needed to preserve testimony in the event of a witness' death or incapacity.

The victims also plan to ask the state court to lower the age for deposing witnesses in cases that had been stalled for procedural reasons from 75 to 70.

The archdiocese issued a statement saying it "is supportive of things that continue to move the Chapter 11 reorganization process forward." But a spokeswoman declined to elaborate, saying "our full response to the motion will be filed with the court by the appropriate deadline."

MJS

I guess we'd all expect the archdiocese to just flat out oppose this.  SNAP's just fishing for more money, but the truth is that many victims, not just SNAP's, would like to see those responsible for assisting pedophiles to be exposed.  So far both Abp Weakland and Bp. Sklba have avoided responsibility for their actions.  The article seems to hint that they personally are accused of abuse.  Abp. Weakland had his scandal obviously but that is settled. 

MJS: SNAP's lead lawyer is the "unlikely millionaire"

Anderson, 63, is an unlikely millionaire whose own story of failure and redemption - and of abuse in his own family - informs his life and work.

A recovering alcoholic and college dropout who once flunked out of law school (he disliked its "arcane" rules about attendance), Anderson honed his outrage in the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s.

Anderson espouses a deep spirituality, born of his recovery from alcoholism, that draws from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and other traditions.

"I'm a deist, I believe in a higher power, in God, and it's a very important part of my life," he said.

A measure of his prominence, and political contributions, can be found in an out-of-the-way corridor of his two-story offices. There, framed photographs of Anderson and his family with presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama share space with legal accolades and a note from then-California Gov. Gray Davis thanking Anderson for his work in helping pass legislation that made it easier for sex abuse victims to bring their cases in court.

Anderson won't discuss compensation, except to say that contingencies range from 25% to 40% of judgments. He claims not to know how many cases he has pending or how much he's earned for victims over the years, though it's been estimated by some as high as $60 million.

His single largest verdict was $30 million, in the 1998 case of Father Oliver O'Grady, the California priest whose crimes were detailed in the 2006 Academy Award-nominated documentary "Deliver us From Evil." The judgment was later reduced to about $7 million.

He denies any anti-Catholic sentiment - he's pursued cases against many denominations, he says. But litigation, Anderson insists, has been the only way to get the church to divulge its secrets and begin to reform itself.

"All I want them to do is clean it up. This isn't about their theology. It isn't about any agenda that was ever anti-Catholic," he said. "It's all about their failures to protect the kids, and their decisions to protect themselves at the great peril of the kids."

MJS did a big writeup SNAP's Jeff Anderson.

He is campaigning right now to remove statute of limitations against any dioceses or other Catholic institutions(which would not apply to public schools which statistically speaking shelter more abusers than any Catholic diocese).  That's his goal in life.  That's exactly what this interview is all about.  The media just loves this guy too.  Not seen in the questioning is how much is enough?  If you could take every possession in the archdiocese, how much would you leave for those of us peasants who actually built these institutions in the first place. 

We've said here before SNAP started out on the right foot(read the whole article, it is worth your consideration), but unfortunately that man had two left feet.  Since his goal is to actually destroy the Catholic Church, obviously he's taking advantage of those coming to him to accomplish his own personal agenda.  Victims deserve justice, but "justice" to Anderson is destruction of every parish that worships Jesus Christ, and every school that teaches He is present in every tabernacle of the world.  He sees no good being done by the Church, only the evil.

Catholic League took out an ad in MJS to issue a response.  Pretty telling that they had to take out an ad and they wouldn't run it as an op-ed.

Left in the midst of all this is a group of victims that do deserve a just response from the archdiocese.  That includes admissions of the wrongs, the discipline of the guilty, and proof of corrective steps being taken.  In bizarre fashion there are still those in the archdiocese who laud Abp. Weakland and Bp. Sklba as some heroes despite their guilt.  What a terrible reality that the archdiocesan newspaper did a tribute to Bp. Sklba during this mess.  THAT is not a just response.

The Provincial Emails: No bishops were harmed in the bankrupting of this Archdiocese

My temptation is to ask how our Archdiocese of Milwaukee can be filing for bankruptcy (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, New York Times) when only weeks ago Bishop Richard Sklba said in the print version of this Catholic Herald interview,

"My temptation is to say 'Tell me what we did wrong.' In that time and place. 'Tell me what we did wrong,'" he said.

His claim is that our Archdiocese's handling of abuse cases was state of the art, and those who say otherwise are unfairly applying hindsight.

I assume his challenge to be told otherwise was not merely rhetorical. Peter Isely and Jim Smith in The Sexual Abuse of Children in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee include this case.

It was an “open secret” that Fr. Dennis Pecore, a priest with the Society of the Divine Savior religious order who was assigned to Milwaukee’s Mother of Good Counsel parish and grade school, was sexually abusing boys at the parish and the school.

In July of 1984, a teacher who was alarmed by the priest’s behavior of routinely taking boys to his bedroom wrote to Archbishop Weakland urging action before “it goes public.” Archbishop Weakland wrote back, “Any libelous material found in your letter will be scrutinized carefully by our lawyers.”

Frustrated, the teacher and two others continued to write the archdiocese, warning of the danger Pecore posed to children. All three were fired.

While it might well be shown this was consistent with our Archdiocese's standard operating procedures in handling abuse cases, it was not state of the art handling. It also indicates that, in fact, bankruptcy is primarily being used to forestall Milwaukee's present and former bishops having to testify. Our Archdiocesan newspaper's brief report includes that

According to Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki, the decision to file “is occurring because priest-perpetrators sexually abused minors, going against everything the Church and the priesthood represent.”

One need only recall the case of Father Pecore to be reminded that it was the acts and omissions of our bishops in handling these cases, rather than the underlying acts of priests, that lead to this bankruptcy filing.

 The Provincial Emails

Worth mentioning is the fact the Milwaukee Catholic Herald ran a thirty-two page tribute to Bishop Sklba in an issue last month.  Ummmm, that is lacking a bit of prudence I think. Sklba helped enable many predatory priests in abuse of children.  How could abuse victims be blamed for leaving the Church or wanting to destroy Her in Milwaukee with this type of sh*t shenanigans going on.  The Archdiocese doesn't need to hang Sklba out to dry either, but a 32 page tribute where he arrogantly and publicly touts doing no wrong?  Sheesh!  That is just terrible!

Last minute gift idea for SNAP head

SNAP leader gift ideas

Last week's Milwaukee Catholic Herald included a special 32 page Bishop Sklba Tribute section. If your Christmas list includes someone who is an admirer of the Bishop, or someone who might be cross-examining him, additional print copies are available for $5.00.

The Provincial Emails

I think Jeff Anderson might be interested.  By the way I just noticed he has his own blog.

SNAP request Sklba's records

SNAP called on Milwaukee Auxiliary Bishop Richard Sklba on Thursday to turn over to authorities any records he has involving pedophile priests before he retires as early as this year.

SNAP accuses Sklba, who submitted a mandatory letter of retirement after turning 75 on Sept. 11, of working closely with then-Archbishop Rembert Weakland to conceal the sexual abuse histories of at least 10 pedophile priests who went on to molest other children in Wisconsin and across the country.

It came as yet another lawsuit against the archdiocese for its handling of sexual abuse cases was filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Thursday - this one involving the now-defrocked Franklyn Becker, who was accused of molesting 10 teenage boys beginning in the 1960s.

"Archbishop Weakland has testified under oath that Bishop Sklba was his go-to guy for all sex abuse cases," said John Pilmaier, co-director of the Midwest chapter of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which issued a public appeal to Sklba on Thursday.

"We'd like him to explain how it is he became so involved. Was he ordered by Weakland or did he come up with this on his own?" Pilmaier said. "This is a chance for Bishop Sklba, in the twilight of his life, to come clean."

Sklba was out of town and unavailable for comment Thursday. Bishops are required by church law to submit their letters seeking retirement when they turn 75. But the decision is made by the pope, and bishops can remain in their posts for years.

The archdiocese issued a statement Thursday saying Becker's offenses had been well-documented; that he appears as "laicized" on the archdiocese's list of abusive priests; and that there are no priests with credible allegations of abuse against them now working in the archdiocese.

The latest lawsuit is the 14th case involving 18 victims now pending against the archdiocese, including one in U.S. District Court that names the Vatican as a defendant. The new lawsuit specifically mentions Weakland but not Sklba, who was named auxiliary bishop in 1979.

The lawsuit alleges that Becker, now 73, sexually assaulted the plaintiff, identified as John Doe 17, in 1979 at St. Margaret Mary Parish in Milwaukee when he was 7 or 8 years old. It says the archdiocese defrauded the victim by not alerting his parents and other parishioners to Becker's sexual history. Becker did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

According to a letter released as part of an earlier lawsuit, Weakland knew of Becker's homosexual orientation and attraction to teenage boys as early as 1980. He testified in a 2008 deposition that Sklba would have been involved in all of the sexual abuse cases he handled.

Victims accuse Sklba of playing a role in numerous cases, including Becker's and that of Father Lawrence Murphy, who was accused of molesting as many as 200 boys at St. John's School for the Deaf in St. Francis.

JSOnline 

Speaking of Bishop Sklba, Milwaukee should be up for not one but two auxiliary bishop appointments.  I sound like a broken record but I hope a new group can form to help victims of the abuse crisis.  Sooo if they didn't do anything to Weakland, then what will they(SNAP) do to Sklba?  And who are the "authorities" that these records should be released to?  SNAP lawyers.  I think it sound likely that Sklba made mistakes, but if he was simply following orders... well... I guess take this for what its worth.