Milwaukee Archdiocese Installs New Archbishop
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MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee’s Roman Catholic archdiocese installed a new leader Wednesday, replacing an archbishop who resigned after acknowledging he used church funds to pay a settlement to a man who accused him of sexual abuse.
The new archbishop, Timothy Dolan, alluded to the sexual abuse scandal that has embroiled the Catholic Church nationwide in a speech at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, where he was installed.
“We’ve heard so much in recent months about the Catholic Church in crisis,” said Dolan, who moved to Milwaukee from St. Louis, where he served as auxiliary bishop. “The antidote for this crisis ... is fidelity. A fidelity that gives rise to holiness.”
Former Archbishop Rembert Weakland attended Wednesday’s ceremony.
Pope John Paul II accepted Weakland’s resignation and immediate retirement May 24, a day after he acknowledged paying a $450,000 settlement to Paul Marcoux, a former Marquette University student who said Weakland sexually assaulted him in 1979. Weakland acknowledged an inappropriate relationship with Marcoux but said there was no abuse.
Since January, at least 300 priests have either been dismissed from their duties or resigned since the sex abuse scandal erupted in Boston.
The Milwaukee Archdiocese serves 685,000 Catholics in 10 southeastern Wisconsin counties.
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