Thursday, August 20, 2020

Statement by Bishop Mark Brennan of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese on
the Congregation of Bishops’ decision on amends plan for Bishop Michael J.
Bransfield
I wish to announce to the faithful people of the Diocese of WheelingCharleston that the Congregation for Bishops in Rome has reached a decision on
how former Wheeling-Charleston Bishop Michael J. Bransfield should fulfill Pope
Francis’ requirement that the Bishop “make personal amends for some of the harm
he caused” while serving in this Diocese. This decision comes after extensive input
from me, as the representative of the Catholic people of the Diocese, and with
consideration of governing factors in both civil and canon law.
First, Bishop Bransfield has been told to make a public apology to the
people of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese for the scandal he created. He is urged
as well to apologize privately to certain individuals who reported abuse and
harassment. We have received his letter of apology to the Diocese, which is being
made public on our diocesan website, and are aware that some individuals have
received a letter from the Bishop.
Second, Bishop Bransfield is required to repay the Diocese of WheelingCharleston the amount of $441,000 for unauthorized benefits received from
diocesan resources. The Bishop has paid the Diocese that amount. These funds will
be added to those already set aside by the sale of his former residence for
assistance to victims of abuse. The Bishop has already complied with the Diocese’s
demand that he purchase, at fair market value, the diocesan vehicle he has been
using in retirement.
Third, Bishop Bransfield will receive $2,250 per month as his retirement
stipend, adjusted for inflation, the amount recommended by the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops for retired bishops. However, no other benefits,
such as for a secretary or travel, will be provided. This is in accord with the
discretion that I have, as the current diocesan Bishop, according to the same
USCCB guidelines, to reduce or eliminate additional benefits for a predecessor
who did not retire in good standing. Thus, Bishop Bransfield’s stipend will be
about one-third of the full package of $6,200 ordinarily given to a retired bishop.

 He will continue to be covered by the health insurance plan for priests of the
Wheeling-Charleston Diocese, which will pay his modest long-term care insurance
premium.
I am grateful to Pope Francis and the Congregation for Bishops for
accepting in large part the outline of the amends plan I presented to Bishop
Bransfield in November, 2019. That plan combined an insistence on restorative
justice with a gesture of mercy, which is how God deals with all of us. I hope that
the people of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston will see in the decision of the
Congregation for Bishops a fair and reasonable resolution of this unseemly matter.
I am immensely grateful to the faithful of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese
for their patience during the past year. This has been an ordeal for all of us. Now, I
hope, we can move forward and not let the past distract us from the urgent work of
faith that is so vital to the well-being of so many throughout this State who need
the Church’s ministry. Faith in God can help us heal the wounds we have suffered
and give us strength to move ahead with the true mission of the Church: to bring
Jesus Christ to the people he came to save and to work his wondrous power of
renewal in them.
With my heartfelt affection and prayers for you, I am

Sincerely in Christ,

Most Reverend Mark E. Brennan
Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston