HomeCommentary$1.5 million settlement moves diocese closer to resolving sexual abuse claims

$1.5 million settlement moves diocese closer to resolving sexual abuse claims

By: Tracy Simmons

Date:

May 30, 2012

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Bishop Blase Cupich of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane/Tracy Simmons

The Spokesman Review reported today that the Catholic Diocese of Spokane is one step closer to resolving the sexual abuse claims and avoiding foreclosures of churches and schools.

According to the article, “A three-page letter written by Bishop Blase Cupich and distributed to parishioners on Sunday sought to assure churchgoers that the threat of foreclosure had passed. The $1.5 million was far less than initially feared to clear up lingering bankruptcy issues – most notably more than two dozen unresolved claims filed by former Morning Star Boys’ Ranch residents who said they were abused.”

Cupich said he will now review the accusations of abuse against Morning Star’s longtime director, the Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner. Weitensteiner has denied the claims and has not formally withdrawn from ministry.

Tracy Simmons

Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of FāVS.News, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Associate Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.

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