Weakland's demons by Matt Abbott

[Caveman]

Here’s the first three paragraphs from Abbott’s article (found here)

Weakland’s demons
By Matt C. Abbott

Disgraced Archbishop Rembert Weakland is in the news again. Actually, his autobiography is what’s making headlines.

In A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop, due out next month, and in a recent New York Times interview, the archbishop officially comes out of the closet and whines about Church teaching on homosexuality, among other things (click here for the story).

Seeing that he’s now seeking publicity, I thought it would be fitting to reprint from Randy Engel’s book The Rite of Sodomy (published in 2006) a lengthy excerpt about the archbishop and the damage he inflicted on the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in particular and the Church in general. Thanks to Mrs. Engel for granting me permission to reprint the excerpt.

 

[Shin]

George Weakland’s parish priest, Father McFadyen, recognized that the young boy had a remarkable aptitude for music and instructed a nun at the parish school to give him piano lessons.

George was thinking about a career as a concert pianist and church organist, but decided to become a monk instead.

His early years at St. Vincent’s Seminary were relatively uneventful. He continued his piano and organ playing along with his academic studies. Except for his fellow songbirds in the Music Department, he had few friends and was described by one of his classmates as basically a loner — certainly never one of the boys. His health was said to be delicate and his demeanor effete.

One of the turning points in Weakland’s clerical career came in 1956 when he met Giovanni Battista Montini, the Archbishop of Milan. Cut from the same temperamental cloth, Montini, the future Pope Paul VI, took a shine to the young Benedictine monk who spoke fluent Italian. Montini mentally earmarked Weakland for advancement when and if he (Montini) became pope.

On May 8, 1964, Montini, now Pope Paul VI, appointed Weakland as Consultant to the Commission for Implementing the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council. Weakland was a major architect of the final council document on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium (1963).

Following the close of the council, Weakland became a major player in international ecclesiastic politics in Rome at the Synods of Bishops in 1969, 1971, 1973, 1987 and 1997 and an important figure in the Liturgical Revolution in the United States and the Vatican.

Pope Paul VI played an important role in the election of Weakland as Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Order, worldwide, on September 29, 1967. Weakland was reelected to a second term as Abbot Primate in September 1973.

On September 20, 1977, Pope Paul VI appointed Weakland to head the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Weakland’s notorious homosexual apologia from his Herald of Hope column, “The Archbishop Shares: Who is Our Neighbor?” that appeared in the Catholic Herald Citizen, the diocesan weekly for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee on July 19, 1980, is filled with vintage pro-homosexual Newspeak. Weakland employs pro-homosexualist linguistics throughout the text and defends every tenet of the Homosexual Collective from “homosexuality is inborn and irreversible” to “gay is good.”

The archbishop consistently uses the term “gay people” when referring to homosexuals. His essay undermines the Bible’s condemnation of sodomy and debunks the idea that homosexuals prey on young boys. The pro-homosexual article appeared the same year that Archbishop Weakland himself engaged in a homosexual affair with a layman.

Archbishop Weakland helped to found and fund the Milwaukee AIDS Project, a 1986 initiative that included condom distribution for “safe” homosex and “alternatives” to sodomy including mutual masturbation, consensual sadomasochist sex play and the use of “sex toys.”

Weakland permitted Dignity Masses at St. Pius X Catholic Church, with the rainbow flag draped on the floor for an altar, for more than ten years. He also permitted pro-homosexual religious orders such as the Salvatorians to reside in the diocese.

Cradle-to-grave sex instruction had been implemented in the archdiocese with Weakland’s enthusiastic backing. Young children have been sexualized and desacralized by systematic sex indoctrination through such programs as Wm. Brown’s New Creation Series and so-called AIDS education that introduces children to the most perverse of all vices seductively packaged and wrapped in a blanket of compassion and tolerance. The pornographic films Father Untener used to desensitize seminarians at St. John’s Seminary in Saginaw were used in the Milwaukee Archdiocese from 1978 to 1988 as part of the Sexual Attitudinal Restructuring Program for Catholic adults.

In April, 2002, when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel began an extended series on clerical sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, District Attorney E. Michael McCann said his office was flooded with calls from victims, many of whom were molested by priests who were still being recycled from parish to parish.

According to writer-researcher Robert A. Sungenis, “Out of 36 priests who were named as child molesters in the archdiocese, 21 of them are still in the Milwaukee area and 6 of those have active assignments. Not one of the 36 has ever been so much as questioned, and no parishioners, except the victims, knew the names of these priests.”

While the archdiocesan public relations department touted Weakland’s model program for handling clerical sex offenders, the archbishop was shuffling offenders from parish to parish.

 

[mullenpm]

Shin, thank you for your post. I knew nothing about Weakland before this thread and it scares me to death. But one sentence is very worrying.

"He also permitted pro-homosexual religious orders such as the Salvatorians to reside in the diocese."

It had not occurred to me that any religious order would be pro-homosexual. How does one know which religious orders are ‘pro-homosexual’?

And, are they pro-homosexual in so far as they counsel these people or are they pro the life style of homosexuals?

:knight2::knight1:

 

[Shin]

Shin, thank you for your post. I knew nothing about Weakland before this thread and it scares me to death. But one sentence is very worrying.

"He also permitted pro-homosexual religious orders such as the Salvatorians to reside in the diocese."

It had not occurred to me that any religious order would be pro-homosexual. How does one know which religious orders are ‘pro-homosexual’?

And, are they pro-homosexual in so far as they counsel these people or are they pro the life style of homosexuals?

:knight2::knight1:

I don’t know the specifics of this case. I read that Randy Engel’s book, ‘The Rite of Sodomy’ includes those details of how much certain orders, like the Salvatorians have been subverted and infiltrated.

I suppose I’ll buy it one of these days, it’s rather expensive, and buying such a depressing book however much it is necessary to be aware of these matters is not something one likes to have to do. But I have to eventually, I feel obliged to sort through these matters and keep aware of the extent of corruption.

If you wish to find out the extent, ask, read books, and look at what kind of articles come out by various figures in the orders. Now, we all know, just because most of the famous Jesuits these days are infamous Jesuits, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few good ones out there. . . But, when the Orders don’t discipline that bad ones, that’s a clear sign of subversion right there.

And we have a great deal of it today.

For taking the lead in the lack of discipline in the Church today, we can thank Pope Paul VI and his successors – he, on some sort of principle almost, did not believe in it. He was a diplomat, not a defender of the faith. Undid the work of centuries in a couple of years.

To recover from it… is going to take a long time.

If you understand what sort of language and positioning is used to be soft on something or deal with something properly then you pretty much become aware of what position whoever and whatever organization you encounter truly has on a matter. It’s part of simply basic personal discernment.

 

[wapsi]

It had not occurred to me that any religious order would be pro-homosexual. How does one know which religious orders are ‘pro-homosexual’?

Yes, that jumped out at me, too. I am not sure that the author of the claim, Randy Engels, is a very objective source. Some of the language he uses in the small bit that was quoted seems over the top. For instance,
Randy Engels:

Weakland’s notorious homosexual apologia from his Herald of Hope column, “The Archbishop Shares: Who is Our Neighbor?”…is filled with vintage pro-homosexual Newspeak. Weakland employs pro-homosexualist linguistics throughout the text and defends every tenet of the Homosexual Collective

Mr. Engels seems to have an axe to grind, rather than simply reporting events. And the title of the book, The Rite of Sodomy, is rather lurid in itself. I’m not sure Mr. Engels can be trusted as a reporter.

 

[Shin]

Yes, that jumped out at me, too. I am not sure that the author of the claim, Randy Engels, is a very objective source. Some of the language he uses in the small bit that was quoted seems over the top. For instance,

Mr. Engels seems to have an axe to grind, rather than simply reporting events. The the title of the book The Rite of Sodomy is rather lurid in itself. I’m not sure Mr. Engels can be trusted as a reporter.

Randy Engel is a she, not a he. I understand knee-jerk defense, but in the case of the problem of homosexual subversion within the Church, that sort of reaction is part of the problem, not the solution.

The truth is there hasn’t been sufficient reaction against the matter, in that those who have responsibility are forced to fall on their swords and be removed from office, and chastised and punished – nor has the full extent of the infiltration been investigated and revealed.

Let me quote something on Randy Engel and this book:

*Over the last forty years, Randy Engel’s articles, have appeared in numerous Catholic publications including Liguorian Magazine, Our Sunday Visitor, The Wanderer, Catholic Family News and the Homiletic and Pastoral Review. She has received numerous awards for excellence in investigative journalism including the prestigious Linacre Quarterly Award for Distinguished Writing by the Catholic Medical Association.

Meticulous documentation and references and easy readability are the hallmarks of Randy Engel’s investigative writings, and The Rite of Sodomy - Homosexuality and the Roman Catholic Church is no exception to the rule. The 1,318-page text contains 4,523 endnotes, a bibliography of over 350 books, is fully indexed and reads like a top-flight mystery thriller – except that it is not fiction – it is true.*

I haven’t read the book. But I respect the documentation, which from what I have read is solid.

 

[Caveman]

Shin, thank you for your post. I knew nothing about Weakland before this thread and it scares me to death. But one sentence is very worrying.

"He also permitted pro-homosexual religious orders such as the Salvatorians to reside in the diocese."

It had not occurred to me that any religious order would be pro-homosexual. How does one know which religious orders are ‘pro-homosexual’?

And, are they pro-homosexual in so far as they counsel these people or are they pro the life style of homosexuals?

:knight2::knight1:

An Order can be just as pro-homosexual as an Archbishop can be.

Not only Rites of Sodomy, but Ungodly Rage is another fine expose of the Smoke of Satan that has infiltrated the sanctuary of The Church…

 

[SallyC]

Wow, what a shock that Pope Paul VI appointed him. I in my ignorance always thought of Pope Paul VI to be wise to, and against dissent. I mean, he wrote Humanae Vitae!
What’s the story???

 

[cathgal]

Wow, what a shock that Pope Paul VI appointed him. I in my ignorance always thought of Pope Paul VI to be wise to, and against dissent. I mean, he wrote Humanae Vitae!
What’s the story???

You don’t actually believe that Pope Paul VI would appoint him if he knows about Weakling’s pro-homosexual stance do you ??

 

[mullenpm]

CathGal, I agree with you about Pius VI but this one excerpt in a previous post I found to be implying something different.

"One of the turning points in Weakland’s clerical career came in 1956 when he met Giovanni Battista Montini, the Archbishop of Milan. Cut from the same temperamental cloth, Montini, the future Pope Paul VI, took a shine to the young Benedictine monk who spoke fluent Italian. Montini mentally earmarked Weakland for advancement when and if he (Montini) became pope."

I believe it was part of the excerpt from the book by Matt Abbott and not the opinion of the poster. Am I wrong there?

I found it to be implying something scandalous.:knight2:

 

[Michael_C]

Here’s an excerpt from 'Weakland’s Demons". I wonder how this will be explained in his book?

***One can only assume that when the archbishop received a letter from Paul Marcoux dated July 20, 1997 claiming that he now recognized that he had been sexually abused by the archbishop 20 years before, Weakland found himself in a state of utter panic. Marcoux proposed that the two meet with their legal aides on neutral grounds to discuss the matter. When the archbishop did not respond, Marcoux retained a Montreal lawyer, Brent T. Tyler, to plead his case of sex abuse against Archbishop Weakland.

On August 29, 1997, Tyler sent Archbishop Weakland a letter making a formal claim for damages. He invited Weakland to instruct the archdiocesan legal staff to enter into negotiations in order to reach a settlement of said claim. The battle was on.

The lead attorney for the archdiocese, Matthew J. Flynn of the firm Quarles & Brady in Milwaukee, advised Weakland to play hardball. Flynn was confident that Wisconsin’s statute of limitation laws would apply to the case. In his lengthy correspondence with Tyler over the next year, Flynn repeatedly warned Tyler against any attempts at extorting money from Archbishop Weakland or the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Flynn said that Milwaukee District Attorney E. Michael McCann, in whom Weakland had earlier confided his fears that a former adult sex partner might try to blackmail him, had told Flynn that if Marcoux filed a civil lawsuit it would constitute the felony of extortion. Tyler was not deterred by Flynn’s threats. He was betting on Archbishop Weakland’s unwillingness to have his secret life publicly exposed. The key issue, he knew, was not sex abuse per se but the archbishop’s homosexuality.

Tyler’s bet paid off.

On October 6, 1998, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee signed a confidential agreement giving Marcoux $450,000 in exchange for an agreement not to sue Weakland, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee or the Benedictine Order, his sworn perpetual silence and the return of all his correspondence with the archbishop. Neither the archbishop nor the archdiocese admitted guilt. The money was taken from the Bishop Trust Endowment Fund and the Properties and Building Fund and transferred to a Montreal bank account.

There were only four archdiocesan personnel who knew about the secret settlement with Marcoux: Weakland, Flynn, the archdiocesan financial advisor, and Auxiliary Bishop Richard Sklba, who was consecrated by Weakland in 1979. The Vatican was never informed of the settlement.

According to Jerry Topczewski, spin-doctor for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, “The Vatican did not know about the payment previously, nor should they have,” he said. “The people who needed to know and were authorized to issue a check did,” he said. “There was no need for anyone else to know.”

Paul Marcoux returned to San Francisco to spend his money…

---

 

[Ridgerunner]

So Weakland has written a book. In today’s environment one could hardly be surprised. I wonder how many copies have already been purchased in advance by the wealthy supporters of the present attacks on the Church.

 

[Bob_Crowley]

Getting off the topic a bit, I used to be Presbyterian. That’s a minor story in itself.

But I suppose about 20 years or so ago, I sat in the Presbyterian Church to which I belonged and heard a former homosexual, who had, in his own words, been involved in everything going in the Sydney homosexual scene. He claimed that he and his fellow gays used to stand on the street corners of Kings Cross and describe how they’d kill a bloke called Fred Nile, an Australian morals crusader, who was an outspoken critic of the gay lobby.’

But eventually it got to the point of despair. He became a Christian, ironically through the outreach of one of Fred Nile’s contacts, and for a while stayed celibate. But it got the better of him.

In his testimony, he claimed that at his second, serious suicide attempt, just as he had everything ready to go (he didn’t say what the suicide technique was to be), and about to pull the plug, Christ materialised in the corner of the room, moved towards him and somehow merged.

From that time on he never even had to struggle with the issue, and had married a woman who accepted his past history, and he had a couple of kids.

So there’s definitely a spiritual element involved.