CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A full report detailing the investigation of disgraced Bishop Michael Bransfield has now been published by The Washington Post.
To read the report, go to https://wapo.st/bransfieldreport.
Bransfield, who was bishop of The Wheeling-Charleston diocese for more than a decade, has been accused of misdeeds including financial improprieties and sexual harassment.
The Catholic church has not yet published the results of its internal probe, but the Post — which has done several of its own investigative pieces based on the 60-page report — decided to publish it today.
“After church officials repeatedly declined to say whether they were going to release the report, The Post has decided to publish it on its website for the first time with some details redacted to protect the identities of alleged victims of sexual improprieties,” The Post wrote in a story on its website.
Bransfield abruptly resigned in September 2018, and an investigation was concurrently announced into allegations that he sexually harassed adults.
Last month, the diocese announced recommendations that Bransfield should make amends through actions including public apologies and $792,638 restitution.
The investigative report dated Feb. 21, 2019, details how Bransfield allegedly groomed and inappropriately touched young men and spent millions of dollars in church money on himself and on fellow clerics.
Catholic parishioners have wanted access to the report, saying it is necessary to determine what needs to be corrected.
“The people of West Virginia cannot trust that an adequate investigation has been done, or that ‘amends’ have really been made if we do not know the full picture of the behavior of Bransfield and of diocesan personnel,” Michael Iafrate, a co-coordinator for the lay organization Catholic Committee of Appalachia, told the Post.
Church officials in West Virginia have said they don’t have a copy of the report.
“The Holy See commissioned the preliminary investigation, thus the report belongs to the Holy See,” Tim Bishop, a spokesman for the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, said in a statement to The Washington Post.
“The Diocese paid the costs associated with the investigation because it was warranted by the conduct of its former bishop.”
In a separate, more general statement issued Monday evening, the diocese restated the conclusion that the allegations of sexual harassment of adults by Bransfield were credible and that he had misused church funds.
The diocese again stated that Pope Francis imposed severe penalties against Bransfield, “which include restricting him from
publicly celebrating liturgy as a priest or bishop; from residing in the diocese of Wheeling Charleston; and also the requirement to make personal amends for some of the harm he caused.”
SNAP, the Survivors Network, praised The Washington Post for releasing the report and expressed frustration that the church hadn’t released it itself.
Sadly, we are not surprised at this outcome,” the organization stated.
“Children are best protected when communities are informed, and that can only happen when internal investigations are released and recommendations made public. We applaud the Washington Post and its team for their work in uncovering this report and making it public. We hope that parishioners and the public throughout West Virginia will read this report, learn more about the secrets that church officials have held close to their chest, and demand more transparency and openness from those prelates in the future.”
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, whose office is suing the diocese over allegations that it has not provided enough transparency to those who use its services, publicly thanked the Washington Post for publishing the report.
Thank you to the @washingtonpost for following up on this. https://t.co/kK2RwXyGDf
— Patrick Morrisey (@MorriseyWV) December 23, 2019