News

By Aaron Benavides, Catholic Herald - Bransfield has repeatedly denied claims of sexual misconduct and is reported to have spent nearly $182,000 in fresh flowers for the diocesan chancery, $4.6 million to renovate his residence, and $2.4 million in travel… Lori wrote in a letter that “the accounts of those who accused Bishop Bransfield of sexual harassment are credible” and that the team of investigators “uncovered a consistent pattern of sexual innuendo, and overt suggestive comments and actions toward those over whom the former bishop exercised authority.”

By Msgr. Charles Pope - The priest put this question to a class of children: “If all the good people in the world were red, and all the bad people were green, what color would you be?” A young girl thought hard for a moment, then her face brightened, and she replied, “I’d be streaky!”… We are all a mixed bag, neither completely good nor completely bad. The journey from evil to good is not yet finished. God alone is wholly good.

By Bradley Eli, M.Div., Ma.Th., Church Militant - As bishops meet this week in Baltimore, younger bishops are fighting for greater lay involvement in conducting truly independent investigations of bad bishops like Theodore McCarrick… Laity and younger bishops like Bp. Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas and Bp. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri view lay involvement as a crucial aspect of carrying out truly transparent investigations that hold complicit bishops accountable for their roles in perpetrating or covering up clerical sex abuse… "As we approach the Baltimore meeting of bishops I share what I have heard from my flock," Bp. Strickland tweeted on Friday. "'Bishop please do all you can to ensure that a strong lay voice is part of the norms and that laity have a significant role in the investigation & cleanup of this scandal' I will do so!"