Hundreds of pages of just-released documents that the Milwaukee
Catholic Archdiocese compiled over four decades reveal a coverup of
pedophilia that involved top church leaders and touched a prominent
law-enforcement official.
The documents, which a California court released as part of a
$16.65 million settlement of civil lawsuits in that state, paint
more than just another graphic story of a priest who sexually
abused children: They could be a harbinger of things to come for
the church here as victims of abuse press their cases in the courts
and the Legislature.
The archdiocese fought to keep sealed the documents, which focus
on Franklyn Becker, an archdiocesan priest who has been accused of
sexually abusing nine teenage boys in Wisconsin and one in
California, the first case dating to just two years after his
ordination.
The records indicate that as early as 1983, church officials
sought the advice of E. Michael McCann, then Milwaukee County
district attorney, about a priest's record of sex abuse, without
identifying Becker by name. The documents say McCann, a Catholic,
advised the church to take the priest out of ministry "for about
five years, and if no complaints come forth in that time perhaps he
can be given another chance."
McCann said Thursday that at the time, he was not told of any
criminal activity involving Becker.
He said the conversation about Becker, referred to in a 1983
document, involved a phone call from an archdiocesan official who
spoke of concerns about a priest who was "spending way too much
time with a particular boy." McCann recalled being told that the
boy's mother supported her son's relationship with the priest. The
boy had made no allegations of inappropriate conduct, and there
were no allegations of criminal misconduct, McCann said.
"Do you think, for God's sake, if they told me he committed a
crime that I would say keep him away (from the boy) for five years?
. . . If they told me he had committed a crime, I would have acted
on it," McCann said.
But a log entry made by Father Joseph Janicki, vicar for the
archdiocese at the time, indicates McCann told him the priest "has
been given adequate warnings and enough chances and that he should
not be assigned anywhere where he could come in contact with
youngsters."
Michael Finnegan, an attorney working for the victims, said
McCann's recollection that he had been told of only one boy, and
that no one chose to make a complaint, seemed inconsistent with the
document.
"That sounds to me like they told him about a lot more than one
kid whose mother said it was no big deal," Finnegan said.
McCann said information in the documents lacked context, asking,
"Why don't you have the whole diocesan file?"
Finnegan said that if the former district attorney was correct
and there was more detail in Becker's file on the conversation,
then the church did not produce the entire file as the California
court ordered, and that his firm would seek contempt charges
against the archdiocese.
Becker, now 70 and a defrocked priest living in Mayville, was
described in documents dating to at least 1970 as abusive. Church
records show that the archdiocese had received at least nine
credible reports of abuse involving children. In 1983, a
psychological report described Becker as a pedophile who was in
denial.
Signs of trouble go back to his days at St. Francis Seminary,
where shortly before his ordination in 1964, Becker entered the bed
of a sleeping classmate and was accused of attempting to initiate
sex. The matter was forwarded to Archbishop William Cousins, who
considered kicking Becker out of the seminary.
Becker met briefly with the archbishop, who asked a few
questions and then concluded there was no reason Becker should not
become a priest. "I recall his parting words, which were 'Don't
muddy the waters,' " Becker said in a separate statement that the
Journal Sentinel obtained.
Becker began abusing children, according to the complaints, at
his first assignment at Holy Assumption Parish in West Allis.
After several parish assignments, Becker asked to be assigned to
college campus ministry and was removed from one because of his
involvement with Dignity, a gay Catholic group.
Becker received permission to take an assignment in San Diego in
1977, and he was involved with at least one teenage boy who later
sued. The Milwaukee Archdiocese was made aware that Becker was
asked to leave his San Diego assignment, but the record does not
show details of sex abuse.
Back in Milwaukee in 1979, he had a number of short assignments
at parishes before he went on a nine-month sick leave in 1983.
A psychological report suggested that he be assigned to an
all-girls high school, a college for women, a nursing home or, last
on the list, a college. It was noted that although a college would
present temptations, at least those involved would be adults.
Becker then was moved into hospital ministry - something in
which he had earlier said he had no interest.
Archbishop Rembert Weakland wrote to Becker in 1983, wishing him
success in his assignment as a chaplain at St. Joseph Hospital but
also warning him that if there were a recurrence of his "past
personal problems," Weakland would take steps to remove him from
the priesthood. Weakland's letter came just months after a
therapist's warning that Becker was a pedophile who did not have
the "mechanism" to stop abusing boys and that "parish ministry is
out of the question."
After a second hospital chaplaincy, Becker was given no formal
assignment from 1990 onward. He was placed on a "restricted"
ministry in 1993, but he was still allowed to help out in parishes
until 2002. Parishioners were never told of his misdeeds.
In 1995, a three-person team of psychological and criminal
experts interviewed Becker regarding nine allegations.
"The accused (Becker) admitted not only some of the alleged
incidents but also factually described and admitted to multiple
others," according to an investigative report. "These admissions
were supported by various letters and entries in his personnel
file."
Reached at his Mayville home this week, Becker said he believed
that his rights - both the constitutional rights afforded every
citizen and church law protections for a priest - have been
violated.
He said he has been "through the mill" and added: "There is a
gospel of forgiveness and redemption, but that apparently doesn't
apply to me. I pray every day that the Lord will take me."
Becker's misconduct and that of the late Siegfried Widera,
another archdiocesan priest who served for a time in California,
cost the archdiocese millions in out-of-court settlements in
California, as well as legal fees and payments for psychological
treatment for both the victims and the abusive priests.
The archdiocese has acknowledged that it knows of more than 40
priests who have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct, but it
has refused to release clergy personnel files - such as those
released in California.
Last year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court opened a door to lawsuits
by victims of sex abuse by priests, saying the church could be sued
for fraud for not telling the public about abusive priests before
placing them in public ministry. At least seven people have already
filed suit.
Further, a bill is pending in the Legislature that would allow
lawsuits to be brought despite the age of the allegations - a step
that would remove what has been a principal roadblock for
victims.
The archdiocese said this week that it faced a $3 million
deficit in the current fiscal year and that further cases could
push it toward bankruptcy.
Jeff Anderson, a lawyer from St. Paul, Minn., who represents
victims here, called the release of that news a "shameful public
relations tactic, timed to the release of these documents."