Catholic Abuse Enabling Bishops: bishopaccountability.org...

Bishops who resigned during the papacy of John Paul II
Brendan Comiskey, SS.CC. (Ireland) | Kurt Krenn (Austria) | Bernard Law (United States) | Ronald Mulkearns (Australia)  | Alphonsus Liguori Penney (Canada)  | John Aloysius Ward, O.F.M. Cap. (Wales) 

Bishops who resigned during the papacy of Benedict XVI
Raymond W. Field (Ireland) | Seamus Hegarty (Ireland) | John Magee, S.P.S. (Ireland) | James Moriarty (Ireland) | Donal Brendan Murray (Ireland) | Rafael Eleuterio Rey (Argentina) | Eamonn Oliver Walsh (Ireland) | Daniel Francis Walsh (United States)

Bishops who resigned during the papacy of Francis
Robert Finn (United States) | Gonzalo Galván Castillo (Mexico) | John McAreavey (Northern Ireland)| John C. Nienstedt (United States) | Aldo di Cillo Pagotto, S.S.S. (Brazil) | Lee Anthony Piché (United States) | Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano (Paraguay) 

Name

Career

Description

Sources

Bishop Brendan Comiskey, SS.CC.

 Jun 1961 Ordained priest   Dec 1979 Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Ireland   Apr 1984 Appointed Bishop of Ferns, Ireland   Apr 2002  Resignation accepted by Pope John Paul II (Comiskey was age 66.6)    Ireland.  Comiskey submitted his resignation to Pope John Paul II  in April 2002, two weeks after the BBC aired "Suing the Pope," a  documentary about Comiskey's protection of serial sex offender Sean  Fortune and that priest's rape of Colm O'Gorman and other boys in the  1980s. Despite learning of allegations against Fortune almost as soon as  he took the helm of Ferns in 1984, Comiskey kept the priest in ministry  until 1995, when O'Gorman went to the police, and the priest was  criminally charged with 66 counts of molesting eight children. The  state-commissioned investigation of the Ferns diocese later would show  that even before Fortune's ordination in 1979, the Church had received  reports from multiple victims. (Fortune committed suicide, leaving a  note that claimed Comiskey had sexually abused him.) In a public  statement immediately following Comiskey's resignation, the Vatican  cited canon 401, paragraph 2,  an indication that the bishop's departure wasn't voluntary. That canon  says: "A diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office  because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested  to present his resignation from office." 

Comiskey's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org

Suing the Pope, BBC News, 03.19.2002 

Transcript of "Suing the Pope," BBC News, 03.19.2002

Bishop Resigns over Handling of Sex Case, BBC News, 04.01.2002

Comiskey's Statement of Resignation, 04.01.2002, RTÉ

Joint Statement of Archbishop Sean Brady and Desmond Cardinal Connell, Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference, 04.05.2002

Vatican Announcement Regarding Diocese of Ferns, Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference, 04.06.2002

Irish Bishop Was Forced to Quit by Vatican, by Nicola Byrne, The Observer, 01.26.2003

The Ferns Report, by Francis D. Murphy, Helen Buckley, and Larain Joyce, presented to the Minister for Health and Children, 10.2005

Bishop Built Wall of Silence Against Howls of Abused Children, by Maeve Sheehan, Irish Independent, 10.23.2005

Exposed: Appalling Horror of Ferns Abuse, by Brian Dowling, Independent.ie, 10.26.2005

Rising Star Was Brought Down by Ferns Report and Demon Drink, by David Quinn, Irish Independent, 02.02.2014

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)

Bishop Raymond W. Field 

 May 1970 Ordained priest   May 1997 Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Ireland   Dec 2009 Submitted resignation   Aug 2010 Resignation rejected by Pope Benedict XVI    Apr 2015 Remains Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Ireland   

Ireland. Along with his fellow auxiliary bishop Eamonn Walsh,  Field submitted his resignation under pressure on Christmas Eve, 2009,  one month after the Murphy Report implicated him in the Dublin  archdiocese's cover-up of child sexual abuse by priests and religious.  In a joint written statement with Walsh, Field said, "It is our hope  that our action may help to bring the peace and reconciliation of Jesus  Christ to the victims/survivors of child sexual abuse. We again  apologise to them." In August 2010, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin announced  that Pope Benedict XVI had refused to accept the resignations of Field and Walsh. (However, Benedict did accept the resignations of James Moriarty and Donal Murray, the two other bishops to resign in the wake of the Murphy report.) As of 2015,  Field is still auxiliary bishop of Dublin.

Field's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org

Commission of Investigation: Report into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin ["Murphy Report"], by Judge Yvonne Murphy, Ms. Ita Mangan, and Mr. Hugh O'Neill, 11.26.2009

Two Irish Catholic Bishops Resign over Church Cover-Up of Child Abuse, Associated Press [appearing in The Guardian], 12.25.2009

Bishops' Statement, The Irish Times, 12.28.2009

Ireland Confronts Its Sex Abuse Crisis, by Tom Roberts, National Catholic Reporter, 12.30.2009

Bishop Resignations: Timeline of Events, Irish Times, 08.11.2010

Pope Declines Resignation of Dublin Auxiliary Bishops, by Michael Kelly, Catholic News Service [appearing in NCR], 08.12.2010

Bishop Robert Finn 

 Jul 1979  Ordained priest   Mar 2004  Appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Kansas City-Saint Joseph, Missouri, USA    May 2005  Succeeded Bishop of Kansas City-Saint Joseph, Missouri, USA    Apr 2015  Resignation accepted by Pope Francis (Finn was age 62.0)    

United States. In September 2012 Finn was convicted of violating the state of Missouri’s mandatory child abuse reporting statute.  Finn had chosen not to report the diocese’s December 2010 discovery of  sexually graphic photographs of little girls found on the laptop of  diocesan priest Shawn Ratigan. (Of the hundreds of photos, only four or five  had been downloaded from the Internet; the rest apparently had been  taken by Ratigan himself with a personal camera.) Finn removed Ratigan  from his parish but did not tell parishioners why. He sent the priest to  Pennsylvania to be evaluated. When Ratigan returned in February 2011,  he was made chaplain for the Franciscan Sisters at the Franciscan Prayer  Center in Independence MO. Finn placed Ratigan under seven restrictions,  including avoiding contact with children, but he also allowed the  priest to say Mass for youth groups "on a 'trial' basis." Finn did not  assign anyone to monitor Ratigan. Ratigan’s unwitting former  parishioners reached out to him, and some invited him to gatherings  which included children. On one such occasion Ratigan took upskirt pictures of a 10-year-old girl with his cell phone underneath the table during dinner with her family.

The police finally were notified in May 2011 by Finn’s vicar general, Msgr. Robert Murphy. Murphy later testified that  the bishop was “upset” when he learned that law enforcement had been  contacted; Murphy said he told his sister, “I think I made a decision  that will not make the bishop happy.” In August 2012 Ratigan pleaded guilty to producing and attempting to produce child pornography and subsequently was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

A month after Ratigan's conviction, Finn was convicted,  and sentenced to two years' court-supervised probation. He remained in  place as Kansas City-Saint Joseph bishop, resulting in a firestorm of  criticism, protest and persistent calls for his resignation. In  September 2014 the Vatican's Congregation of Bishops sent a representative (Ottawa archbishop Terrence Prendergast) to Missouri to investigate Finn's leadership. In April 2015 Pope Francis accepted  Finn's resignation. While no specific reason was given, canon 401, paragraph 2 was cited. It says  "A diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office  because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested  to present his resignation from office."

In December 2015 Finn assumed the role of chaplain  for the School Sisters of Christ the King in the Diocese of Lincoln, NE. He had been appointed by Lincoln Bishop James Conley.

Finn's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org 

Assignment Record - Rev. Shawn Ratigan, BishopAccountability.org 

Northland Couple Says Ratigan Took Photos of Their Daughter Under Table, Kansas City Star, 11.17.2011

KC Priest Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Charges, by Joshua J. McElwee
      National Catholic Reporter
      08.22.2012

Kansas City Bishop Convicted of Shielding Pedophile Priest, by John Eligon and Laurie Goodstein, New York Times, 09.06.2012

Update 2: Kansas City Bishop Found Guilty in Child Abuse Case, by Joshua McElwee, National Catholic Reporter, 09.06.2012

Stipulation of Testimony, by Robert W. Finn and State of Missouri, 09.06.2012 [69 points of evidence that both sides agree would be adduced at trial]

Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn under Vatican Investigation, by Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter, 09.29.2014

Daily Press Bulletin Announcing Finn's Resignation, Vatican, 04.21.2015

Pope OKs Resignation of Bishop Robert Finn, Who Failed to Report Sex Abuse, by Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 04.21.2015    

US Bishop Finn, Symbol of Church's Failure on Sexual Abuse, Resigns, by Joshua J. McElwee, Brian Roewe, and Dennis Coday, 04.21.2015

Canon Lawyers: Origins of Bishop Finn's Resignation Unclear, by Brian Roewe, National Catholic Reporter, 04.23.2015

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)

State of Missouri Child Abuse Reporting Statutes,   Stat. § 210.115

Archbishop John Nienstedt, Bishop Robert Finn Have New Homes Outside Former Dioceses, By Brian Roewe, National Catholic Reporter, 01.14.2016

Bishop Gonzalo Galván Castillo

 Jul 1977 Ordained priest   Oct 2004 Appointed Bishop of Autlán, Jalisco, Mexico   Jun 2015 Resignation accepted by Pope Francis (Galván was age 64.4)   

Mexico. Galván's resignation was accepted by Pope Francis  in June 2015, per canon 401, paragraph 2.  His resignation came the day after Autlán priest Francisco Javier  García Rodriguez was arrested and charged with raping an 11-year-old  girl and fondling five others. Galván had received reports in 2013  regarding García, but did nothing until restricting his ministry in  January 2015. Galván is said to have also protected another one of his  priests, Rev. Horacio López, who was accused in 2009 of raping an  11-year-old boy in 2002. Galván moved López  in 2010 to a parish in  Tecolotlán, Jalisco, and again in 2013 to the Diocese of Leon. López was  still in active ministry in August 2015.

After resigning, Galván relocated to Leon, where he was officiating Mass in the Parish of the Holy Spirit.

Galván's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org

Gonzalo Galván Castillo Será Nombrado Obispo “El Obispo Renunció por Cuestiones de Salud”: Asegura Vicario General Interino, Por Carmen Aggi Cabrera, 06.25.2015

Priest, 'family friend,' accused of abuse, Mexico Daily News, 06.29.2015

The Vatican Shakeup Continues: Two More Bishops Resign, By Ruth Gledhill, Christian Today
    07.16.2015

Pope  Francis has Removed Some  Bishops Immersed in Sex Abuse Scandals, but  He’s Also Offered Them  Comfort and Called Accusers Dumb, By Mary Duan, Monterey County Weekly, 10.27.2015

Daily Press Bulletin Announcing Galván's Removal and Replacement, Vatican, 06.25.2015
 

Investigan si ex Obispo Encubrió a Pederastas, por Jesús García, 02.20.2016

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)

Bishop Seamus Hegarty

 Jun 1966 Ordained priest   Feb 1982 Appointed Bishop of Raphoe, Ireland   Oct 1994 Appointed Bishop of Derry, Ireland   Nov 2011 Resignation accepted by Pope Benedict XVI (Hegarty was age 71.8)   Ireland. Pope Benedict XVI accepted  Hegarty's resignation in November 2011, shortly before the publication  of a church-commissioned report on clergy sex abuse in the diocese of  Raphoe. The church had received the report several months earlier. It  revealed Hegarty's mishandling of pedophile priests while bishop of  Raphoe from 1982 to 1994.  Four of Hegarty's priests were eventually  convicted. While acknowledging "deficits" in his response to  allegations, Hegarty denied ever being told of the abusive behavior of  the most notorious of the four, Rev. Eugene Greene, who molested at  least 26 children and was sentenced to prison in 2000.   The Vatican's  brief announcement on Hegarty's resignation said it was in accordance  with canon 401, paragraph 2:  "A diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office  because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested  to present his resignation from office." Hegarty said it was due to an  "irreversible and progressive" illness. As of April 2015, he retains the  title of bishop emeritus of Derry. 

Hegarty's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org

Ulster Bishop Hegarty's 'Secret Deal' on Sex Abuse Case, by Donna Deeney, Belfast Telegraph, 03.18.2010

Review  of Safeguarding Practice in the Diocese of Raphoe, undertaken byThe  National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC), August 2010 [published November 2010]

Pope Accepts Resignation of Another Irish Bishop, by Shawn Pogatchnik, ABC News, 11.23.2011

Northern Ireland Bishop's Health Problem Prompts Resignation, Catholic News Agency, 11.23.2011

Other Pontifical Acts [citing canon 401.2 in regards to Hegarty's resignation], Vatican Information Service, 11.23.2011

Personal Statement of Bishop Séamus Hegarty Following Publication of Safeguarding Reviews in Diocese of Derry and Raphoe, Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference, 11.30.2011

Derry Now Has 'Clear Procedures,' Irish Times, 11.30.2011

Abuse Reports Trigger Unwelcome Feeling of Deja Vu, by Patsy McGarry, Irish Times, 12.01.2011

Bishop Hegarty Admits 'Poor' Judgement, Derry Journal, 12.02.2011

Bishop Bows Out, But Grim Legacy of Abuse Remains, by Donna Deeney, Belfast Telegraph, 12.02.2011

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)

Bishop Kurt Krenn

 Oct 1962 Ordained priest   Mar 1987 Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Wien {Vienna}, Austria   Jul 1991 Appointed Bishop of Sankt Pölten, Austria   Oct 2004 Resignation accepted by Pope John Paul II (Krenn was age 68.2)   Jan 2014 Died   

Austria. Krenn resigned in October 2004 after he caused a  public uproar. A student at the seminary in Krenn's diocese was  discovered to have stored and distributed child abuse images and other  pornography, and Krenn dismissed the scandal as "boyish pranks." Krenn  reportedly resigned voluntarily to pre-empt  Pope John Paul II's removal of him. However, the Vatican announcement of Krenn's resignation cited canon 401, paragraph 2, which refers to a resignation that has been "earnestly requested."

Krenn's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org

Austrian Bishop Resigns; Preempts Vatican Announcement, CatholicCulture.org,
    09.30.2004

Daily Press Bulletin Announcing Krenn's Resignation, Vatican, 10.07.2004

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)

Bernard Francis Cardinal Law 

 May 1961  Ordained priest   Oct 1973  Appointed Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA    Jan 1984  Appointed Archbishop of Boston, Massachusetts, USA    May 1985  Elevated to Cardinal    Dec 2002  Resignation accepted by Pope John Paul II (Law was age 71.1)    May 2004  Appointed Archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, Italy    Nov 2011  Retired (age 79.9)    Dec 2017 Died   

United States. In a January 2002 investigative report, the  Boston Globe revealed extensive clergy sexual abuse of children and  cover-up by the Boston archdiocese under Law's leadership.  The report  showed  Law's awareness in 1984 that Rev. John Geoghan was a child  molester, including of 7 young boys in one family; Geoghan was allowed  to remain  in ministry.  (Geoghan was convicted in 2002 of the abuse of  one boy, and was murdered in prison.) Documents showed Law kept Rev.  Paul Shanley in ministry, despite knowledge  that  he was a danger to  children, and that he advocated sex between men and boys. (Shanley was   convicted in 2005 of sexually abusing a boy in the 1980s.)  Public  reaction was explosive and led to a tumultuous year of  protests, with  attempts at damage control by the archdiocese. Calls for Law's removal  by Catholic laity and wealthy donors grew in momentum through the year.  On December 3, 2002 the lawyer for a Shanley victim made public eight  priest files which showed particularly egregious abuse by Boston priests  and cover-up by Cardinal Law. In the next nine days Law was served a  subpoena, more files were released, protesters thronged the cathedral,  and 58 Boston priests signed a letter calling for their archbishop to  step down. Law fled to Rome, where he announced on December 13 that Pope John Paul II  had accepted his resignation. The Vatican did not link Law's removal to  his cover-up of child sexual abuse.  A brief Vatican announcement said  only that Law's resignation had been accepted in accordance with canon 401, paragraph 2.  Law was appointed archpriest of Rome's Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore  in May 2004. He retired in November 2011, and died December 20, 2017.

Law's Career History,
    catholic-hierarchy.org 

Church Allowed Abuse by Priest for Years. Aware of Geoghan record, Archdiocese Still Shuttled Him From Parish to Parish, by Michael Rezendes, Prepared by the Globe Spotlight Team, Boston Globe, 01.06.2002 

Shanley's Record Long Ignored Files show Law, Others Backed Priest, by Walter V. Robinson and Thomas Farragher, Boston Globe, 04.09.2002

Daily Press Bulletin Announcing Law's Resignation, Vatican, 12.13.2002

Law Resigns: Cardinal's Departure May Be First of Many, by Jules Crittenden
      Boston (MA) Herald,
      12.14.2002

Ex-Priest Convicted in Rape of Boy in Boston, by Pam Belluck, NY Times
      02.08.2005

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)

Boston’s Cardinal Bernard Law Retires from Prominent Post, by Francis X. Rocca, Washington Post
    11.11.2011

In Search of Cardinal Bernard Law, by Phillip Martin, WGBH, 8.01.2015

Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano

 Aug 1978 Ordained priest   Jul 2004 Appointed Bishop of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay   Sep 2014 Removed by Pope Francis (age 69.0)   Aug 2015 Died Aug 14   Paraguay. Opus Dei member. Livieres promoted Rev. Carlos  Urrutigoity to  vicar general even after having been warned by the  priest's previous bishop, Joseph Martino of Scranton PA, that  Urrutigoity was "a serious threat to young people." The Scranton diocese  settled a lawsuit against Urrutigoity in 2004. The ultra-conservative  Livieres long clashed with his fellow his fellow bishops. Pope Francis  sent a delegation to Paraguay to investigate in July 2014, and Livieres  was removed in September of that year.  The termination of Livieres  differs in two interesting respects from others cited in this report:  the canon law typically cited in these situations -- canon 401, paragraph 2 -- was not   invoked; and the Vatican took the unusual step of issuing an  explanation. The Vatican notice said "This was a difficult decision on  the part of the Holy See, taken for serious pastoral reasons and for the  greater good of the unity of the Church in Ciudad del Este and the  episcopal communion in Paraguay." Plano died August 14, 2015 in Buenos Aires. 

Livieres'  Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org

Daily Press Bulletin Announcing Livieres' Removal and Replacement, Vatican, 09.25.2014

Press Bulletin Explaining the Pope's Reasons for Replacing Livieres, Vatican, 9.25.2014

Francis Removes Bishop Under Cloud in Paraguay, by Gaia Pianigiani and  Laurie Goodstein, 09.25.2014

Breakaway Opus Dei Bishop Removed by Pope, by Nicole Winfield, Toronto Star
      09.25.2014

Paraguayan Bishop Who Shielded Priest Abuser Removed From Office, by Dennis Coday, National Catholic Reporter, 09.25.2014

Vatican says Paraguayan Bishop's Dismissal Not the Result of Sex Abuse, Francis X. Rocca,  Catholic News Service [appearing in NCR],  09.29.2014

Rogelio Livieres Plano, Bishop Ousted by Pope Francis, Dies at 69, by Sam Roberts, New York Times
      08.18.2015

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)

Bishop John Magee, S.P.S.

 Mar 1962 Ordained priest   Feb 1987 Appointed Bishop of Cloyne, Ireland   Mar 2010 Resignation accepted by Pope Benedict XVI (Magee was age 73.5)   Ireland. Member of the St. Patrick’s Society for the Foreign  Missions. Served as private secretary to three popes. In December 2008 a  church commission's investigation of the Cloyne diocese revealed that  Magee ignored claims in the 1990s that two of his priests were sexually  abusing children. The report led to  public calls for Magee's removal.  Magee  offered his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI  in February 2009 and stepped down from his duties as bishop the  following month; his resignation was accepted in March 2010 in  accordance with canon 401, paragraph 2. 

Magee's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.og

Report on the Management of Two Child Protection Cases in the Diocese of Cloyne, by Ian Elliott,
      Chief Executive Officer
      National Safeguarding Board for Children, Catholic Church in Ireland,
      06.30.2008, Released 12.19.2008

Sex Abuse Row Bishop Quits His Post, By Mark Tighe and Olivia Kelleher, The Times 03.08.2009

Daily Press Bulletin Announcing Magee's Resignation, Vatican, 03.24.2010

Pope Accepts Irish Bishop’s Resignation in Abuse Scandal, by Rachel Donadio and Eamon Quinn, 03.24.2010

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)

Bishop John McAreavey

 Jun 1973 Ordained priest   Jun 1999 Appointed Bishop of Dromore, Ireland   Mar 2018 Resignation accepted by Pope Francis.  (McAreavey was age 69.1)   Northern Ireland. On March 1, 2018 McAreavey announced he would  resign, after public criticism that he had concelebrated a mass in 2000  with known pedophile priest, Malachy Finegan, and that he presided at  Finegan's funeral mass in 2002. The Finegan case was highlighted on a  television program aired in February 2018. Pope Francis accepted  McAreavey's resignation March 26, 2018. 

McAreavey's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org
 

Bishop John McAreavey resigns after revelations he concelebrated Mass with paedophile priest, by Bimpe Archer, The Irish News, 03.02.2018

Resignations and Appointments, Vatican website, 03.26.2018

Pope Francis accepts resignation of Bishop John McAreavey, Belfast Telegraph, 02.26.2018

Bishop James Moriarty

 May 1961 Ordained priest   Jun 1991 Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Ireland   Jun 2002 Appointed Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Ireland   Dec 2009 Submitted resignation to Pope   Apr 2010 Resignation accepted by Pope Benedict XVI (Moriarty was age 73.6)   Ireland. Moriarty was one of four current or former Dublin bishops  who resigned in the wake of the November 2009 publication of the Murphy  Report, the state-run investigation that found decades of systematic  cover-up of sexually abusive priests by the Dublin archdiocese. Moriarty  was implicated in the case of Fr. Edmondus, a pseudonym for the serial  abuser who molested current papal commission member Marie Collins and  many other children. In 1993, as auxiliary bishop of Dublin, Moriarty  received a complaint that Fr. Edmondus had sexually abused sick children  at a hospital 30 years earlier. Moriarty chose neither to investigate  nor ask the archbishop if he could check the priest's file, which  contained prior complaints. Fr. Edmondus remained in ministry for years.  In interviews immediately after the release of the Murphy Report,  Moriarty said he would not resign, explaining that the fault rested with  his then-superior, Archbishop Desmond Connell, to whom Moriarty had  conveyed the complaint. But by the end of December 2009, Moriarty  submitted his resignation, stating that he "should have challenged the  prevailing culture." Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation in April 2010. (The three other Dublin bishops to resign in response to the Murphy Report were Field, Murray, and Walsh;  Murray's resignation was also accepted, but Benedict rejected the  resignations of Field and Walsh.) In announcing the pope's acceptance of  Moriarty's resignation, the Vatican cited canon 401, paragraph 2:  "A diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office  because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested  to present his resignation from office." 

Moriarty's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org 

Commission of Investigation: Report into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin ["Murphy Report"], by Judge Yvonne Murphy, Ms. Ita Mangan, and Mr. Hugh O'Neill, 11.26.2009

No Grounds to Resign, Says Bishop Moriarty, by Patsy McGarry, The Irish Times, 12.11.2009

Under Pressure Bishop Moriarty Rules Out Resignation, Offaly Express, 12.16.2009

Second Catholic Bishop Resigns, UTV, 12.23.2009

Resignation Letter "A Step Forward", Says Victim Acceptance of Collusion "Huge", by Genevieve Carbery
      The Irish Times
      12.24.2009

Bishop Moriarty Outlines Reasons for Resignation, Offaly Express, 12.30.2009

Irish Bishop Resigns, Says He Didn't Report Abuse, by Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, 04.22.2010

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)

Bishop Ronald Mulkearns

 Jul 1956  Ordained priest   Sep 1968  Appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Ballarat, Australia    May 1971  Succeeded Bishop of Ballarat, Australia    May 1997  Resignation accepted by Pope John Paul II (Mulkearns was age 66.5)    Australia.  Mulkearns submitted his resignation to Pope John Paul II  at    age 66 in 1997, two years after he was investigated by police for  covering up the crimes of pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale, who raped  and sexually abused more than 50 children, some as young as age four.  Investigators found that Mulkearns had known of Ridsdale's crimes since  1975 but kept the priest in ministry for years and did not report him to  the police. In his resignation statement, Mulkearns cited the "draining  effect" of the public uproar over his handling of Ridsdale and other  abusers. It is not known whether the Vatican forced Mulkearns'  departure. In 2013, his successor, Bishop Peter Connors, conceded  Mulkearns' wrongdoing to a Victorian parliamentary inquiry on child  sexual abuse, adding, “He retired early before his time because of being  over-burdened by all this." During the Royal Commission's hearings on  child sexual abuse in Ballarat, convicted priest Paul Ryan said  Mulkearns knew he was abusing children in 1977, but did nothing. Ryan  was removed from ministry in 1993. Mulkearns died April 3, 2016. 

Mulkearns' Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org

Ballarat's Good Men of the Cloth, by Peter Ellingsen, The Age (Melbourne), 06.14.2002

Abuse Inquiry: Questions Raised as to Whereabouts of Bishop, by Fiona Henderson, The Courier [Ballarat, Victoria], 04.29.2013 

'Keeper of Secrets' Father Ronald Mulkearns Has Nothing More to Say, by Aleks Devic, Herald Sun, 12.08, 2013

Full Story: How the Church Concealed Father Ridsdale's Crimes, by Broken Rites Australia, updated 04.13.2014

Widespread Child Abuse in Ballarat Diocese, News.com.au, 05.29.15

Former Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns dies at 85, by Jane Lee, The Age, 04.04.16

Bishop Donal Brendan Murray

 May 1966 Ordained priest   Mar 1982 Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Ireland   Feb 1996 Appointed Bishop of Limerick, Ireland   Dec 2009 Resignation accepted by Pope Benedict XVI (Murray was age 69.5)   Ireland. Pope Benedict XVI accepted Murray's resignation in December 2009 in accordance with canon 401, paragraph 2.  A month earlier, the Murphy Report had been published. It called  Murray's failure as Dublin auxiliary bishop to address suspicions of  abuse by Rev. Tom Naughton in the 1980s "inexcusable." Naughton was sent  to prison in 1998 and again in 2009 for sexually abusing boys in the  1980s. 

Murray's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org

Commission of Investigation: Report into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin ["Murphy Report"], by Judge Yvonne Murphy, Ms. Ita Mangan, and Mr. Hugh O'Neill, 11.26.2009

Daily Press Bulletin Announcing Murray's Resignation, Vatican, 12.17.2009

Irish bishop Donal Murray Resigns over Abuse Report, BBC, 12.17.2009

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)

Archbishop John Clayton Nienstedt

 July 1974 Ordained priest   June 1996 Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, Michigan, USA   June 2001 Appointed Bishop of New Ulm, Minnesota, USA   April 2007 Appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA   May 2008 Succeeded Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA   June 2015 

Resignation accepted by Pope Francis (Nienstedt was age 68.2)

United States. In April 2013 Nienstedt's Chancellor for Canonical Affairs, Jennifer Haselberger,  resigned after her warnings to Nienstedt and other archdiocesan  officials about problem priests were ignored. Haselberger had sent  Nienstedt copies of what appeared to be child pornography  found on Rev.  Jonathan Shelley's  computer; Nienstedt did not call police. Nienstedt is also said to have  prior knowledge of inappropriate sexual behavior by Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, who was convicted in 2012 of child sexual abuse and possession of child pornography. Further, Rev. Kenneth LaVan  was allowed to remain an active priest despite accusations that he  sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl, engaged in sexual misconduct with  married parishioners, spent lavish amounts of money on lovers, and had a  diagnosis of "compulsive sexuality." Nienstedt later would deny that he knew LaVan was still in public ministry; however, archdiocesan files show that he had approved LaVan for ministry yearly, including the previous year.       See Haselberger's affidavit for detailed accounts of alleged mismanagement by Nienstedt and others.

While facing pressure to resign because of cover-up, Nienstedt himself was accused publicly in December 2013 of touching a boy's buttocks in 2009. Calling the allegation "entirely false," he temporarily stepped aside. He resumed duties March 2014 after the prosecutor said there would no charges due to insufficient evidence. In July 2014, news media revealed  that Nienstedt had commissioned an internal investigation of his  alleged sexual misconduct toward adults. The investigators reportedly  found that Nienstedt made "sexual advances"  toward at least two priests. Nienstedt kept the findings secret and,  according to the MPR report,  authorized a new investigation by a second  law firm.

On June 5, 2015, County Attorney John Choi announced criminal charges  against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on six gross  misdemeanor counts of failure to protect children in the Wehmeyer case.  On June 15, 2015 Pope Francis accepted  the resignations, in accordance with canon 401, paragraph 2,  of both Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché.  The pope did not  issue any explanation for the resignations. Nienstedt's new title is  Saint Paul and Minneapolis MN archbishop emeritus.

In January 2016 it was announced at St. Philip's  in Battle Creek  MN, a parish in the Diocese of Kalamazoo,  that Nienstedt would be assisting  there for about six months while St. Philip's pastor,  a friend of  Nienstedt, underwent treatment for some health issues. Diocesan  officials said Nienstedt was a priest in good standing and was welcome  in the diocese. Parishioners, community members and survivors of clergy  sexual abuse immediately and loudly objected; two weeks later Nienstedt  left the diocese, and Kalamazoo bishop Paul Bradley publicly expressed  regret that he had not anticipated the public's reaction to Nienstedt's  presence. 

Nienstedt's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org

Under Fire, Archbishop Nienstedt Scrambles to Respond, by Jean Hopfensperger, Star Tribune, 10.06.2013

Letter from Archbishop Nienstedt Regarding Allegation, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
      12.17.2013

Nienstedt, Facing Claim He Touched Boy, Steps Aside during Investigation, Denies Allegation, by Tom Scheck, Laura Yuen, Mike Cronin, Minnesota Public Radio, 12.17.2013

Archbishop Nienstedt Will Not Be Charged after Being Accused of Touching Boy, by Chao Xiong, Star Tribune
      03.11.2014

Statement Regarding Archbishop John
Nienstedt , archspm.org,
      Tuesday, 03.11.2014

Insufficient Evidence to Charge Archbishop John Nienstedt in Alleged Groping Incident Reported by Priest, by Dennis Gerhardstein, Office of the Ramsey County Attorney
      03.12.2014

Deposition of Archbishop John Nienstedt, Deposition Taken 04.02.14, Released 04.22.14 by Jeff Anderson & Associates

Archbishop Nienstedt Under Investigation, by Grant Gallicho, Commonweal Magazine
      07.01.2014

Affidavit of Jennifer M. Haselberger, Ramsey County District Court, Minnesota, 07.14.2014

US Church Insiders Who Have Blown the Whistle on Alleged Child Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up, BishopAccountability.org

New Documents Show Falsehoods in Nienstedt Testimony, by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio, 08.11.2014

Did Archbishop John Nienstedt Lie under Oath?, Fox 9, 08.14.2014

State of Minnesota vs The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 06.05.2015

An Isolated Nienstedt Tried to Limit Investigation into Himself, by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Pubic Radio, 06.19.2015

Daily Press Bulletin Announcing Nienstedt's Resignation, Vatican Website, 06.15.15

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)

Archbishop John Nienstedt, Bishop Robert Finn Have New Homes Outside Former Dioceses, By Brian Roewe, National Catholic Reporter, 01.14.16

Apologetic Bishop Underestimated Reaction to Nienstedt's Presence, MLive, 01.21.16

Archbishop Aldo di Cillo Pagotto, S.S.S.

 Dec 1977 Ordained priest   Dec 1985 Professed priest of Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament   Sep 1997 Appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Sobral, Ceara, Brazil   Mar 1998 Succeeded Bishop of Sobral, Ceara, Brazil   May 2004 Appointed Archbishop of Paraíba, Paraíba, Brazil   Jul 2016 Resignation accepted by Pope Francis (Pagotto was age 66.8)   Brazil. Pagotto was the subject of a  Vatican investigation in  2015 after charges he accepted into the archdiocese priests and  seminiarians rejected by other dioceses for suspected  pedophilia.  During the investigation he was banned from ordaining new deacons and  priests or taking in new seminarians. Pagotto had also been accused of sexual misconduct with an 18-year-old male. On July 6, 2016, Pope Francis accepted Pagotto's resignation, in accordance with canon 401.2. 

Pagotto's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org

Pope Accepts Resignation of Brazilian Archbishop After Abuse Scandal, The Japan Times, 07.06.2016

Pope Accepts Resignation of Brazilian Bishop in Sex Abuse Case, by Philip Pullella, Reuters, 07.06.2016

Daily Press Bulletin Announcing Pagotto's Resignation, Vatican Website, 07.06.2016

Archbishop Alphonsus Liguori Penney 

 Jun 1949 Ordained priest   Nov 1972 Appointed Bishop of Grand Falls, Newfoundland, Canada   Mar 1979 Appointed Archbishop of Saint John's, Newfoundland, Canada   Jul 1990 Penney announced his resignation.   Feb 1991 Resignation accepted by Pope John Paul II (Penney was age 66.3)   Canada. In   1990 the Winter report, which was the result of  St.  John's Archdiocesan  inquiry into child sexual abuse by clergy,    commissioned by Penney, revealed that Penney knew of and failed to  prevent abuse of children in the archdiocese for years. Within a 2  1/2-year period more than 20  priests and religious brothers were  charged with or convicted of child sexual abuse; their victims included  altar boys and boys living at the Christian Brothers' Mount Cashel  orphanage. Penney announced his resignation the day the printed Winter  report became public, on July 18, 1990. He had been under public  pressure to step down since 1988. The Vatican sent two representatives  to the archdiocese in October 1990 to investigate - Bishop Roger  Ebacher, Bishop of Gatineau-Hull, and Rev. James Weisgerber, secretary  of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. The representatives   commented that the Pope did not think the Winter report was enough to  warrant Penney's resignation; Catholics of the archdiocese responded  with public protests. Pope John Paul II accepted Penney's resignation February 2, 1991. 

Penney's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org

Winter Report, 06.1990 

Archbishop Resigns Over Sexual Abuse Report, United Press International
      07.18.1990

Canadian Prelate Quits In Clerics' Sex Scandal,
      by John F. Burns, Special to The New York Times
      07.20.1990

Pope Sends Two to St. John's to Report on Sex Abuse, Toronto Star
      10.08.1990

Catholics Planning Demonstration, Globe and Mail, 10.12.1990

John Paul II Accepts Archbishop's Resignation, The Orlando Sentinal, 02.03.1991

Bishop Lee Anthony Piché

 May 1984 Ordained priest   Nov 1972 Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA   June 2015 Resignation accepted by Pope Francis (Piché was age 57.1)   

United States. Piché served as Vicar General of the Archdiocese  of St. Paul and Minneapolis from May 2008 until July 1, 2009. He was  appointed Auxiliary Bishop  in May 2009. Prior to his promotions, as a parish pastor in 2001, Piché  was placed in charge of newly ordained priest Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, who  was assigned to Piché's parish and about whom there had already been  concerns. In 2004 Wehmeyer received a police citation for loitering in a  park that was known as a place where men engaged in anonymous sex. That  same year there were complaints to Piché that Wehmeyer was spending a  lot of time in the parish school's bathroom. Further, Piché was told by  one priest that Wehmeyer had taken two boys camping and said, "I think  you have a predator on your hands." Piche's response  was that he thought Wehmeyer could be a good priest. Another reported  to Piché in August 2010  that in  he found Wehmeyer in bed with a boy at  a campsite. Piché responded, "Father Curt Wehmeyer has many skeletons  in his closet." Wehmeyer was convicted in 2012 of child sexual abuse and  possession of child pornography. 

On June 5, 2015 County Attorney John Choi announced criminal charges  against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on six gross  misdemeanor counts of failure to protect children. On June 15, 2015 Pope Francis accepted the resignations, in accordance with canon 401, paragraph 2  , of both Lee and Archbishop Nienstedt. The pope did not issue any  explanation for the resignations. Piché's new title is Auxiliary Bishop  Emeritus of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Piché's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org
 

Father Lee Piché Named Auxiliary Bishop, Catholic Spirit, 05.27.09
 

State of Minnesota vs The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 06.05.2015
 

Daily Press Bulletin Announcing Piché's Resignation, Vatican Website, 06.15.15
 

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)
 

So, Where Do We Go From Here?, by Jennifer Haselburger, canonicalconsultation.com, 06.19.15
 

A Look at Key Arch-diocese Leaders, How they Handled Wehmeyer, by Amy Forliti, Associated Press, 06.21.15

Bishop Rafael Eleuterio Rey

 Dec 1958 Ordained priest   Apr 1983 Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Mendoza, Argentina   Dec 1991 Appointed Bishop of Zárate-Campana, Argentina   Feb 2006 Resignation accepted by Pope Benedict XVI (Rey was age 72.7)   

Argentina. In the early 1990s one of Rey's priests, Mario  Napoleón Sasso, was diagnosed with pedophilia. Rev. Sasso was sent to a  treatment center in Rey's diocese of Zarate-Campana for two years in the  mid-1990s; he was released in 1998 with strict orders never to be in  the company of children.

In 2001, despite  knowing Sasso's problem, Bishop Rey assigned  Sasso to work at an impoverished parish in the city of Pilar, where  Sasso was the sole priest and in charge of a community soup kitchen  which was frequented by children. In 2003 a soup kitchen worker reported  to the diocesan vicar that Sasso had sexually abused a girl there. The  vicar reportedly told Rey, who did nothing. The kitchen worker and  priest-psychiatrist, Luiz Guzmán, then went to law enforcement; on  December 1, 2003 an order was issued for Sasso's arrest. Aided by the  vicar and another priest, Sasso fled the country, but was captured in  January 2004. The two priests who abetted his escape were charged with  aggravated concealment; they eventually admitted partial guilt and were  given probation. Bishop Rey was not charged by civil authorities, but in  February 2006, his resignation at age 72 (three years before normal  retirement age) was announced by the Vatican. The brief notice said that  Pope Benedict XVI had accepted his resignation in accordance with canon 401, paragraph 2.  Sasso was convicted in 2007 of first-degree sexual abuse of five girls, ages 5 to 12, and sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Rey's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org 

Daily Press Bulletin Announcing Rey's Resignation, Vatican, 02.03.2006

Pedophile Priest: Church Assures that It Already Removed a Bishop, by Sergio Rubín Clarín
      11.14.2007

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)

Pope Francis and Clergy Sexual Abuse in Argentina, [Sasso entry], bishopaccountability.org

Bishop Eamonn Oliver Walsh

 Apr 1969 Ordained priest   Mar 1990 Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Ireland   Dec 2009 Submitted resignation   Aug 2010 Resignation rejected by Pope Benedict XVI    Apr 2015 Remains Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Ireland   Ireland. Auxiliary bishop of Dublin who also administered the  diocese of Ferns 2002-2006, following the resignation of Bishop Brendan  Comiskey.  Walsh was implicated in the Murphy Report in 2009, which  detailed the Dublin archdiocese's cover-up of child sexual abuse by  priests and religious. In a public response to the report, Archbishop  Diarmuid Martin called the abuse accounts "revolting" and the failures  of supervisors, including Walsh, "devastating." Along with his fellow  auxiliary bishop Raymond Field, Walsh submitted his resignation  on  Christmas Eve, 2009, one month after the Murphy Report was released. In a  joint written statement with Field, Walsh said, "It is our hope that  our action may help to bring the peace and reconciliation of Jesus  Christ to the victims/survivors of child sexual abuse. We again  apologise to them." In August 2010, Archbishop Martin announced that Pope Benedict XVI had refused to accept the resignations of Walsh and Field.   (However, Benedict did accept the resignations of James Moriarty and Donal Murray,  the two other bishops to resign in the wake of the Murphy report.) In  2013 Martin made Walsh the head of the Office for Clergy in the Dublin  Archdiocese. 

Walsh's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org 

Commission of Investigation: Report into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin ["Murphy Report"], by Judge Yvonne Murphy, Ms. Ita Mangan, and Mr. Hugh O'Neill, 11.26.2009

Comments of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in Response to the Murphy Report, 11.26.2009

Jump or Get Pushed: After Murphy, Martin Declares War, by Rocco Palmo, Whispers in the Loggia, 12.22.2009

Two Irish Catholic Bishops Resign over Church Cover-Up of Child Abuse, Associated Press [appearing in The Guardian], 12.25.2009

Bishops' Statement, The Irish Times, 12.28.2009

Ireland Confronts Its Sex Abuse Crisis, by Tom Roberts, National Catholic Reporter, 12.30.2009

Bishop Resignations: Timeline of Events, Irish Times, 08.11.2010

Pope Declines Resignation of Dublin Auxiliary Bishops, by Michael Kelly, Catholic News Service [appearing in NCR], 08.12.2010

Bishop Criticised after Murphy Report Gets Additional Responsibilities, RTE News, 09.11.2013

Bishop Daniel Francis Walsh

 Mar 1963 Ordained priest   Jun 1981 Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco, California, USA   Jun 1987 Appointed Bishop of Reno-Las Vegas, Nevada, USA   Mar 1995 Appointed Bishop of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA   Apr 2000 Appointed Bishop of Santa Rosa in California, USA   Jun 2011 Resignation accepted by Pope Benedict XVI (Walsh was age 73.7)   

United States. Walsh was accused of negligence in 2006 for  waiting several days to contact civil authorities after Rev.  Xavier  Ochoa Pérez admitted to him that he had sexually abused children. By the  time Walsh reported the abuse to Child Protective Services, Ochoa had  fled to his native Mexico. Walsh avoided criminal charges by agreeing to  participate in a four-month counseling program. In 2007, Walsh settled  with 10 victims of Ochoa for more than $5 million. In January 2011, the  Vatican appointed Robert Vasa to be co-adjutor bishop of Santa Rosa, and  in June 2011, the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI had accepted Walsh's resignation. The Vatican confirmed that the acceptance was in ac

Bishop Daniel Francis Walsh

 Mar 1963 Ordained priest   Jun 1981 Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco, California, USA   Jun 1987 Appointed Bishop of Reno-Las Vegas, Nevada, USA   Mar 1995 Appointed Bishop of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA   Apr 2000 Appointed Bishop of Santa Rosa in California, USA   Jun 2011 Resignation accepted by Pope Benedict XVI (Walsh was age 73.7)   

United States. Walsh was accused of negligence in 2006 for  waiting several days to contact civil authorities after Rev.  Xavier  Ochoa Pérez admitted to him that he had sexually abused children. 

By the  time Walsh reported the abuse to Child Protective Services, Ochoa had  fled to his native Mexico. Walsh avoided criminal charges by agreeing to  participate in a four-month counseling program. In 2007, Walsh settled  with 10 victims of Ochoa for more than $5 million. In January 2011, the  Vatican appointed Robert Vasa to be co-adjutor bishop of Santa Rosa, and  in June 2011, the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI had accepted Walsh's resignation. The Vatican confirmed that the acceptance was in accordance with canon 401, paragraph 2, which allows for bishops' resignations due to ill health or other serious reasons. 

Walsh's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org 

Officials Fault Bishop in Abuse Case: Law Requires Prompt Report; New Details of Sonoma Allegations, by Guy Kovner, Press Democrat  [Santa Rosa CA], 06.22.06

Abuse  Charges Against Sonoma Priest: 10 Felony, 1 Misdemeanor Sex Counts  Filed; Former Judge Urges Prosecution of Bishop for Failing to Quickly  Notify Authorities, by Guy Kovner, Press-Democrat  [Santa Rosa CA], 06.23.06

Letter, by Bishop Daniel F. Walsh, Diocese of Santa Rosa, 06.23.06

Walsh Defends Delay in Ochoa Case, by Martin Espinoza,   Press Democrat [Santa Rosa CA], 07.28.2006

Documents Detail Abuse Allegations, by Martin Esinoza, Press Democrat  [Santa Rosa CA], 07.28.06

Ochoa Case Timeline, Press Democrat  [Santa Rosa CA], 08.11.06

Sheriff's  Office: Strong Case against Walsh: Criminal Charges May Be Filed  against SR Bishop for Failing to Report Suspected Sex Abuse, by Martin Espinoza, Lori A. Carter, and Mary Callahan, Press-Democrat   [Santa Rosa CA], 08.25.06

Santa Rosa Catholic Diocese Settles Abuse Case for $5 Million, by Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle, 09.13.2007

Bishop Walsh Ends 11-Year Tenure, by Martin Espinoza, Press Democrat [Santa Rosa CA], 06.30.2011    

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)

Bishop John Aloysius Ward, O.F.M. Cap.

 Jun 1953 Ordained priest   Jul 1980 Appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Menevia, Wales, Great Britain   Feb 1981 Succeeded Bishop of Menevia, Wales, Great Britain   Mar 1983 Appointed Archbishop of Cardiff, Wales, Great Britain   Oct 2001 Resignation accepted by Pope John Paul II (Ward was age 72.7)   Mar 2007 Died   Wales. Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Ward resigned under  pressure  in October 2001 after revelations that he ignored warnings in  the1990s about two perpetrator priests. One of the priests, Rev. John  Lloyd, was Ward's former press secretary. Ward gave letters  he had  received from parents complaining about Lloyd's behavior with their  children to Lloyd himself to deal with; Lloyd was sent to prison in 1998  for indecent assault and rape of children. 

Also in 1998, Ward ordained  Rev. Joseph Jordan, even though he had been warned by another bishop  about Jordan's inappropriate behavior with children; Jordan was later  convicted of child sexual abuse. Ward himself was arrested 1999 for  alleged assault of a 7 year-old girl in 1960-61. He was not charged, and  said he was falsely accused. Ward resisted calls to resign. In October  2001 he was summoned to Rome to meet with Pope John Paul II. His resignation, announced October 26 of that year, was in accordance with canon 401, paragraph 2.  Ward died in 2007. 

Ward's Career History, catholic-hierarchy.org 

In This Climate No One is Safe, Archbishop Ward Says, The Tablet, 01.30.1999

Archbishop Welcomes Change to Law on Sex Abuse, The Tablet, 07.01.2000
 

Daily Press Bulletin Announcing Ward's Resignation, Vatican, 10.26.2001.

The Rt Rev John Ward [Obituary], by Peter Stanford, The Guardian, 03.27.2007

Code of Canon Law, Canons Pertaining to Diocesan Bishops, Vatican website (see 401.2)

Note: This table and the database do not state or imply that individuals  facing allegations are guilty of a crime or liable for civil claims. The  reports contained in the database are merely allegations. The U.S. legal  system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent  until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil  actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff  proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a  part of civil or private settlements.    

This page was last updated  March 28, 2018.        

Note: Synthia Esther retrieved this page from the ministry outreach of:  

bishop-accountability.org on Sept. 13, 2018. 

From :  BishopAccountability.org        

Overview of Criminal Cases against Catholic Officials for Enabling Child Sexual Abuse

Since the Boston Globe published the secret  documents of Cardinal Law in 2002, hundreds of bishops and other senior  Catholic supervisors in the U.S. have been accused in civil filings,  news reports, and grand jury investigations of enabling child sexual  abuse. However, fewer than ten complicit  officials and dioceses have  been criminally charged. BishopAccountability.org presents below a list  of these  cases with links to key documents.    

• Criminal charges and civil case against Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis MN
• Criminal  charges against former Ministers Provincial of the Third Order Regular  Franciscans, Immaculate Conception province, Hollidaysburg PA
•  Criminal charges against Bishop Robert Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph MO
• Criminal charges against Msgr. William J. Lynn, Archdiocese of Philadelphia PA
•  Bishop Daniel Walsh, Diocese of Santa Rosa CA, avoids criminal charges
•  Archdiocese of Boston MA avoids criminal charges
• Archdiocese of Cincinnati OH pleads guilty to failure to report
•  Bishop Thomas O'Brien, Diocese of Phoenix AZ, avoids indictment

                •  Diocese of Manchester NH avoids charge of child endangerment
 

For the action taken by the Vatican in such cases, and  the global context, including a linked list of bishops accused of sexual  abuse and misconduct, see:

Related Topics

• Abuse-Enabling Bishops Who Resigned or Were Removed

• Bishops Accused of Sexual Abuse and Misconduct: A Global Accounting
 
 

Criminal charges and civil case against Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis MN
            (2015-2016)

On June 5, 2015, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi announced criminal charges against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on six gross misdemeanor counts  of failure to protect children from child molester Father Curtis  Wehmeyer. He also initiated a civil case against the archdiocese,  pursuant to Minnesota statute 260C.335, citing  three counts (one for each of three Wehmeyer victims) of 'contributing  to the need for services for, or protection of' a child. 

In December 2015, Choi and the archdiocese settled the civil case, stating in their written agreement  that the settlement did not constitute "any admission of liability."  The settlement required the archdiocese to apologize to the victims in  the Wehmeyer case and pursue restorative justice. It also: attached  specific requirements to pre-existing archdiocesan "safe environment"  procedures; called for an independent audit of the archdiocese's  compliance; and gave the county prosecutor access to the audit report,  the auditing personnel, and to "work papers and underlying supporting  documents." 

On  July 20, 2016, Choi announced that the criminal charges had been  dropped in exchange for new provisions to the December 2015 agreement,  including the archdiocese's public admission of wrong-doing. In the amendment to  the agreement, the archdiocese stated that it had "failed to keep the  safety and well-being of these three children ahead of protecting the  interests of Curtis Wehmeyer and the Archdiocese."

The settlement also included Choi's appointment of  Patty Wetterling, a recognized child welfare advocate, to the  archdiocese's Ministerial Review Board. 

Within hours of announcing the dropped charges and amended agreement, Choi released revealing documents related to alleged sexual misconduct by Archbishop John Nienstedt.  The released documents include a July 2014 memo  by the archdiocese's Delegate for Safe Environment alleging that in  April 2014, the papal nuncio to the United States asked two auxiliary  bishops to take back and destroy a letter they had written to the nuncio  objecting to his instruction to shut down a church-commissioned  investigation of Nienstedt by the law firm Greene Espel. [The memo is  included as an exhibit in this affidavit by assistant county prosecutor Thomas E. Ring.]

• Archbishop Nienstedt under Investigation, by Grant Gallicho, Commonweal Magazine, July 1, 2014
• Twin Cities archdiocese criminally charged in priest child abuse case, Minnesota Public Radio, June 5, 2015
 • John J. Choi, Ramsey County Attorney, Gross Misdemeanor Criminal Complaint, State of Minnesota, County of Ramsey v. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, June 5, 2015

  • John J. Choi, Ramsey County Attorney, Civil Petition – Petition in Support of Order to Show Cause,  with 1) Motion for Order to Show Cause and 2) Order to Show Cause, in  the matter of Victim-1, Victim-2, and Victim-3; Respondent: The  Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, June 5, 2015
• An isolated Nienstedt tried to limit investigation into himself, by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio, June 19, 2015
• Archdiocese, Ramsey County attorney reach unprecedented agreement in clergy sex abuse case, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, December 18, 2015

   • Settlement Agreement between The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and John J. Choi, Ramsey County Attorney, December 17, 2015
• Amendment to Settlement Agreement between The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and John J. Choi, Ramsey County Attorney, July 19, 2016
• Prosecutorial Timeline and Released Legal Documents Archive, published by office of John J. Choi, Ramsey County Attorney, July 20, 2016
• Letter to the Faithful from Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda, July 20, 2016
• Letter to Priests and Deacons of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis, from Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda, July 20, 2016
• Response to Release of Documents, Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis, July 20, 2016
• Affidavit of Thomas E. Ring, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney, March 21, 2016 [Released by county prosecutor Choi July 20, 2016. Includes Memorandum to Bishop Lee A. Piché from Reverend Daniel F. Griffith, Delegate for Safe Environment, July 7, 2014]
• Memorandum to Bishop Lee A. Piché from Reverend Daniel F. Griffith, J.D., Delegate for Safe Environment, The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, July 7, 2014 [Released by county prosecutor Choi July 20, 2016]
• Statement of Jennifer Haselberger, July 20, 2016
• Dialogue Paved Road to Dropped Criminal Charges, column by Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda, August 2, 2016.

 "We were willing to admit to failures and even moral  culpability, but we could not go into court to plead guilty to a crime  we did not commit. Committing a crime implies a criminal intent and is  something altogether different from failing."
 

Criminal charges against former  Ministers Provincial of the Third Order Regular Franciscans, Immaculate  Conception province, Hollidaysburg PA (2016).

On March  15, 2016, Pennsylvania attorney general Kathleen Kane announced criminal  charges against three former Ministers Provincial of the Third Order  Regular Franciscans, Immaculate Conception province, based in  Hollidaysburg PA. Each was charged with one count of child endangerment and one count of criminal conspiracy. The  men were accused of enabling Brother Stephen Baker, TOR "to have  contact with children and the public as part of his ministry" from April  1992 to January 2010. During that period, Baker allegedly abused more  than 100 children in the area of Johnstown PA, including 88 students  from Bishop McCort High School, where Baker taught religion and acted as  an unofficial sports trainer. 

• Presentment of the grand jury regarding findings of criminal wrongdoing by the three Ministers Provincial, March 2016
• Criminal complaint charging Anthony J. (Giles) Schinelli, TOR, with criminal conspiracy and child endangerment,  March 14, 2016
• Criminal complaint charging Robert J. D'Aversa, TOR, with criminal conspiracy and child endangerment, March 14, 2016
• Criminal complaint charging Anthony J. Criscitelli, TOR, with criminal conspiracy and child endangerment, March 14, 2016
• Timeline created by FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit [includes timeline of Stephen Baker's alleged abuses]
• News release, PA Attorney General's Office, March 15, 2016
 

Criminal charges against Bishop Robert Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph MO (2011-2012).

In October 2011, Jackson County MO prosecutor Lynn Baker  indicted both the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese and Bishop Robert W.  Finn for failing to report child sexual abuse by Rev. Shawn Ratigan.  Eleven months later, the cases against the diocese and Finn were  separated,   the case against the diocese was dropped, and Finn was  convicted.             

• Indictment by Jackson County Prosecutor, October 14, 2011
• Grand Jury Indicts Bishop Finn, Diocese, Kansas City Star, October 15, 2011
• Stipulation of Testimony, by Robert W. Finn and the State of Missouri, Jackson County Circuit Court, September 6, 2012
• Terms of Probation, State of Missouri vs Robert W. Finn, September 6, 2012
 

More background:

In November 2011, the prosecutor in neighboring Clay County made an agreement with  Finn rather than indicting him or the diocese.  Jackson County  prosecutors, however, continued to press their case. In May 2012,  Jackson County prosecutors split the initial charges into two separate charges for separate time frames. 

In early September  2012, the cases against the diocese and the bishop were separated, as  diocesan lawyers had been requesting for months. On September 6, 2012,  Finn was found guilty during  a brief bench trial of one misdemeanor charge of violating Missouri’s  mandated reporter statute. He was found not guilty of a second charge.
 

Finn agreed to a “stipulation of testimony,” consisting of  69 points that could be cited as evidence if his criminal case were to  go to jury trial. [See Stipulation of Testimony, with links to other documents.]  He was sentenced to two years of probation. [See terms of probation.]  After Finn’s conviction, prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against the diocese.
 

 Criminal case against Msgr. William J. Lynn, Archdiocese of Philadelphia PA (2011-2016)

On  February 10, 2011, Philadelphia's district attorney R. Seth Williams  announced that Monsignor William J. Lynn, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua's  Vicar for Clergy 1992-2004, was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of criminal conspiracy.  The charges related to Msgr. Lynn’s supervision of Rev. Edward V. Avery  and Rev. James J. Brennan, whom Lynn kept in ministry despite previous  allegations that they had molested children.

Lynn’s  indictment was the first time a senior diocesan official was charged  criminally because of his supervision of dangerous priests. 

On May 17, 2012, Common Pleas court judge M. Teresa Sarmina dismissed the charge that Lynn had conspired with Rev. Brennan.

On June 22, 2012, Lynn was found guilty  of one count of child endangerment, regarding his management of Avery.  He was acquitted of conspiring to protect Avery and of endangering the  child allegedly molested by Brennan. On July 25, 2012, he was sentenced to three to six years in state prison.

In December 2013, Lynn's conviction was reversed  by the Superior Court, which agreed with Lynn that the  child  endangerment law in effect at the time of Avery's crime "imposed  criminal liability only upon those directly supervising children" (page  23 of Superior Court ruling). In April 2015, however, Lynn's conviction was reinstated by  the state Supreme Court. It ruled that the pre-amended law applied not  just to direct supervisors of children but to those supervising  children's welfare and that the law therefore applied to Lynn, "because,  as a high-ranking official in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, he was  specifically responsible for protecting children from sexually abusive  priests” (page 2 of Supreme Court ruling).

In December 2015, the Superior Court overturned Lynn's  conviction again, granting him a new trial -- this time, on grounds  that the trial court had admitted a “high volume of unfairly prejudicial  other-acts evidence."  

On July 26, 2016, the PA Supreme Court refused the district attorney's March 2016 petition for a review of the appellate court's ruling. On August 2, Lynn was allowed to leave prison on $250,000 bail, and D.A. Williams vowed to try him again. The new trial is scheduled for May 2017.

• Philadelphia Grand Jury Report, released February 20, 2011. [See also the 2005 Philadelphia Grand Jury Report and its analysis of Lynn's role.]
• Presentment of County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII,  Philadelphia County, dated January 21, 2011, released February 20,  2011. [See last page for recommended charges against Msgr. Lynn.]
• Judge Dismisses Conspiracy Count against Monsignor, Priest, by Joseph A. Slobodzian and John P. Martin, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 18, 2012
• Jury Convicts Lynn of One Count, Deadlocks on Brennan, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 22, 2012

                • Monsignor Lynn Sentenced to Jail for Role in Church Sex Abuse, Philadelphia Daily News, July 25, 2012
• Decision of PA Superior Court reversing Lynn’s conviction on grounds that child endangerment statute did not apply to Lynn, December 26, 2013
• Philadelphia Monsignor’s Conviction Overturned in Cover-Up of Sexual Abuse, the New York Times, December 26, 2013
 • Decision of PA Supreme Court, reversing the 2013 Superior Court’s overturn of Lynn’s conviction, April 27, 2015.

 In  the majority Opinion, Justice Max Baer wrote that child endangerment law  did not require “direct supervision of children. Rather, that which is  supervised is the child’s welfare. Under  the facts presented at trial, Appellee was a person supervising the  welfare of many children because, as a high-ranking official in the  Archdiocese of Philadelphia, he was specifically responsible for  protecting children from sexually abusive priests.”

• Dissenting opinion by Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor, April 27, 2015
• Decision by PA Superior Court granting Lynn a new trial, ruling that the trial court had admitted a “high volume of unfairly prejudicial other-acts evidence,” December 22, 2015
• Lynn’s Sentence Tossed Again by Superior Court, The Legal Intelligencer, December 22, 2015
• D.A. asks appeals court to reconsider Lynn case, Philadelphia Inquirer, December 30, 2015
• Petition for Allowance of Appeal, filed by Office of Philadelphia District Attorney, March 10, 2016
• Phila. D.A. appeals decision in Lynn sex-abuse case, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 13, 2016
• PA Supreme Court order denying DA's petition to appeal the 2015 order of the Superior Court, July 26, 2016
• [See also: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. William J. Lynn, Edward V. Avery, and James J. Brennan: Trial Narrative and Resources]
 

 Bishop Daniel Walsh, Diocese of Santa Rosa CA, avoids criminal charges (2006).

In November 2006, Bishop Daniel F. Walsh of Santa Rosa CA agreed to enter a four-month counseling program, thereby avoiding a  criminal charge for violating the state's mandatory reporting law earlier that year. 

In April 2006, Rev. Francisco Xavier Ochoa  had admitted to Walsh that he recently had offered a 12-year-old boy   $100 for a strip tease and had kissed him repeatedly on the lips. Walsh   suspended Ochoa that day but waited three days before reporting the   priest to civil authorities, during which time Ochoa fled to his native   Mexico. As  a  cleric, Walsh was a mandated reporter of suspected child abuse in CA;  state law required him to report the incidents immediately by phone and   to submit a written report within 36 hours. 

Ochoa   eventually was accused of abusing at least 10 boys and girls. The   alleged abuse included oral copulation and forcible rape. He was never   apprehended by authorities and died in Mexico in 2009. 

• Officials Fault Bishop in Abuse Case: Law Requires Prompt Report; New Details of Sonoma Allegations,The Press Democrat [Santa Rosa CA],  June 22, 2006

 • Ochoa Case Timeline , The Press Democrat [Santa Rosa CA], August 11, 2006
• Sheriff's  Office: Strong Case against Walsh - Criminal Charges May Be Filed  against SR Bishop for Failing to Report Suspected Sex Abuse, The Press-Democrat [Santa Rosa CA], August 25, 2006
• Bishop Avoids Charge in Failure to Swiftly Report Abuse Claims: Counseling Instead of Misdemeanor for Delay in Notification, San Francisco Chronicle, November 21, 2006
• Reaction: Catholics Praise Deal; Victim Advocates Angry, The Press Democrat [Santa Rosa CA], November 21, 2006
 

 Archdiocese of Boston MA avoids criminal charges (2005).

In   November 2005, federal prosecutors in Boston found that archdiocesan   officials had falsely certified an accused priest's fitness for military   chaplaincy in 1999. U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan agreed to end a grand jury investigation without bringing charges. In exchange, the archdiocese agreed   to provide detailed information for three years about all Boston clergy   in federal service and about chaplain candidates. The archdiocese also   had to promise to a more extensive self-audit of its child protection   measures.
 

The agreement stipulated that it did not constitute an admission of guilt or liability by the archdiocese.

Background:

In  1999, while serving as Cardinal Bernard Law's vicar general, auxiliary bishop William F. Murphy (later bishop of Rockville Centre NY)  had signed a federal document certifying   that he knew of no "adverse information" about Rev. William J. Scanlan   that would render him unfit to work at a Veteran Affairs hospital in   Palo Alto CA.  At the time, Scanlan's archdiocesan file contained a 1987 allegation that he had "fooled around with kids." It also included a summary of a 1986 psychological evaluation that cited his infatuation with a young man. In 2000, the archdiocese  received another allegation about Scanlan but did not inform the priest's supervisor at the Veteran Affairs facility.

While  working at the veterans' hospital in Palo Alto, Scanlan lived at St.  Pius parish in nearby Redmond CA. In June 1999, Murphy assured the San Francisco archdiocese that Scanlan was fit to minister at the parish, which had an elementary school. Murphy signed a Request for Faculties form  stating that Scanlan "had manifested no behavioral problems in the past   that would indicate that he might deal with minors in an inappropriate   manner."  

• Agreement of Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, dated November 17, 2005
• Archdiocese, Prosecutors Agree to Deal over Withheld Information, Associated Press, November 18, 2005, with links to documents
 

 Archdiocese of Cincinnati OH pleads guilty to failure to report (2003).

In November 2003,  the Cincinnati archdiocese, represented by Archbishop Daniel E.  Pilarczyk, pled no contest to five misdemeanor counts of failure to  report a crime. According   to Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen, the archdiocese "knowingly   failed to report" sexual felonies against minors by five priests in   1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1982.  A judge fined the archdiocese $10,000, the maximum allowed, after the archbishop entered a no-contest plea.

In   addition, the archdiocese signed an agreement to set up a $3 million   victims' compensation fund and to give prosecutors access to certain   church documents. The archdiocese also agreed that all of its personnel   would be obligated legally to report all alleged child sex abuse   incidents to the Hamilton County prosecutor, even though the state did   not mandate clergy to report: "[B]y this Agreement [the Archdiocese] is   obligated to meet a more stringent reporting requirement than provided   under current Ohio law."

This was the first criminal conviction of a Catholic diocese in regards to its handling of child sexual abuse by clergy. 

• Settlement Agreement between the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and the Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney, November 20, 2003

• Archdiocese guilty of cover-up, Cincinnati Post, November 21, 2003
• Archdiocese found guilty of criminal charges, Cincinnati Post, November 21, 2003
• Statement by Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk, November 20, 2003
 

 Bishop Thomas O'Brien, Diocese of Phoenix AZ, avoids indictment (2003)

In May 2003, Bishop  Thomas O'Brien of Phoenix avoided an indictment for obstruction of  justice by agreeing that he had concealed cases of child sex abuse by  clergy and that he would not handle such allegations in the future. See  the two links below for background; the first link also includes the  agreement O'Brien signed with county prosecutor Rick Romley (scroll down  a bit):            

• http://www.bishop-accountability.org/az-phoenix/phoenix-agreement-resignation.htm
• http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2003_01_06/2003_06_05_Hamilton_PretendingDecades.htm
• Agreement between  Richard M. Romley, Maricopa County Attorney, and Thomas J. O'Brien,  Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, and the Roman Catholic  Diocese of Phoenix, a corporation sole, May 3, 2003
 

 Diocese of Manchester NH avoids charge of child endangerment (2002)

In December 2002,  the NH Attorney General announced that his investigation had found  sufficient evidence to prosecute the Manchester diocese for child  endangerment. The diocese avoided criminal charges by agreeing to submit  to audits of its handling of abuse allegations for a period of five  years. Below are links to the resulting agreement and to the NH Attorney  General's report:            

• http://www.bishop-accountability.org/resources/resource-files/reports/NewHampshireAgreement.pdf
• http://www.bishop-accountability.org/resources/resource-
  files/reports/NewHampshireAGReport.pdf

This page was last updated January 9, 2017.

Note:  Synthia Esther Retrieved This Page From the ministry outreach of: bishopaccountability.org, on Sept. 13, 2018.