Superior, La Crosse dioceses plan reviews

They will look through archives for abuse cases

At least two more Catholic dioceses in Wisconsin plan to open their archives in search of abusive clergy members throughout their history.

Representatives for the Diocese of Superior and the Diocese of La Crosse said their organizations will review their files, following the release by the Diocese of Green Bay last week of a list of 46 priests who had sexually abused minors.

Neither Superior nor La Crosse provided a date when any list would be finished or made public.

Dan Blank, director of administrative services for the Diocese of Superior, said Bishop James Powers has conferred with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for advice on how to conduct an investigation of clergy abuse.

However, results of the investigation wouldn’t be available for months, Blank said, because the diocese will have to go back to the beginning of its 114-year history to check for names.

“We’d start with priests that are alive and then go further back,” he said.

The Superior diocese would also likely cooperate with a state Department of Justice investigation, Blank said, if Attorney General Josh Kaul decides to order such a probe. The diocese would release relevant documents if there is a state investigation, Blank said.

“We’re taking the approach that facts are facts,” he said.

The Diocese of Superior is also cooperating with investigators in Sawyer County who are reviewing multiple sexual assault allegations against former priest Thomas Ericksen, Blank said. The diocese turned over relevant files last week.

Jack Felsheim, spokesman for the Diocese of La Crosse, said last week that the diocese is reviewing files and hopes to complete that step soon. The diocese has not yet decided if it would publicly disclose the findings, Felsheim wrote in an email to USA TODAY NETWORK Wisconsin.

Superior, La Crosse and Green Bay are among five Catholic dioceses operating in Wisconsin.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has said through a spokesman it is “committed to transparency in its ongoing response to clergy sexual abuse of minors” but is not offering any new information or conducting additional reviews in light of the Green Bay disclosure. The diocese previously released a list of known offenders in 2004.

The Diocese of Madison is not conducting its own review but is interviewing independent firms for a potential review of files, spokesman Brent King said. The process was delayed when Bishop Robert Morlino died unexpectedly in November, King said. He also noted that although the Diocese of Madison doesn’t maintain a list of abusive clergy on its website, an investigation could change that.

Dioceses across the country are combing through their files and releasing public lists of known offenders in response to a call for greater accountability and transparency from the Catholic Church. The issue has taken on new urgency since July, when Pennsylvania’s attorney general released a grand jury report that identified more than 300 “predator priests” who abused more than 1,000 victims across the state.

Peter Isley is an abuse survivor and founding member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. He hopes for a larger, statewide investigation in Wisconsin because he doesn’t trust the Catholic dioceses to be fully transparent in investigating themselves.

“It’s a massive conflict of interest,” Isley said of the diocese-conducted reviews.

Kaul has not said whether he will launch an investigation.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisolm also called on Kaul to launch a statewide investigation.