The sexual abuse crisis continues to cause shame all over the globe and right here in Milwaukee. As reported in the local paper, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is denying that it owns the Cousins Center, which houses the offices of the Archdiocese. Originally, the Cousins Center was the St. Francis de Sales Preparatory Academy, and even though that institution is defunct, the Archdiocese is maintaining in bankruptcy court that they rent from the Academy and that the land is not available for the victims of sexual abuse. In 2004, the Archdiocese began listing the property separately in their financial statements and until Archbishop Listecki came last year, Dolan had been trying to sell it with the express purpose of funding a sexual abuse fund FOR victims. Listecki has made it known that he likes the Cousins Center, does not want to sell it, and wants to relocate the offices that had vacated the Cousins Center back at that location. This all smells really bad. But that is what happens when you depend on lawyers and the letter of the law rather than Jesus Christ and Christian morality. Most of what happened a couple years ago to the cause the housing market crash was legal, but it definitely was not moral. The same basically holds true for the Archdiocese in this case. It is also telling that there is not a written lease agreement between the Academy and the Archdiocese, it is just understood that the Archdiocese rents there in return for keeping the place up. A spokesperson for the Archdiocese admits that there may have been some "imprecise communications." If Milwaukee was on the national scene, I could see this phrase catching on. I wonder if Listecki will confess these "imprecise communications" the next time he goes to confession.
A Faithful Catholic
