No more secrets, no more lies
Dear Friends,
Fifty years ago, Arthur Budzinski stood outside the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist with several of his classmates from St. John’s School for the Deaf. They were among the first survivors in the world to come forward with their stories of sexual abuse at the hands of Roman Catholic priests.
Outside the cathedral, they passed out flyers warning Milwaukee Catholics about Father Lawrence Murphy. After Arthur and his classmates left the cathedral, they took their flyers to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office to warn the public. They met with the district attorney, E. Michael McCann, who promised to investigate but never did.
Murphy admitted to raping and sexually assaulting over 200 deaf children in a secret meeting with former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland. When the case came to Pope Benedict, then Cardinal Ratzinger, as head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, he ruled to keep Murphy in ministry, approving his secret transfer to the Diocese of Superior in northern Wisconsin.
Left: Arthur holding a copy of the flyers given to parishioners outside the cathedral, Right: Arthur standing in front of a projection on the walls of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist holding a sign with photos of St. John's School for the Deaf
On Tuesday night, standing outside a Memorial Mass for Pope Benedict, Arthur shared this message:
“Deaf survivors are suffering again because the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has chosen to publicly honor Pope Benedict. Pope Benedict is directly responsible for covering up the crimes committed against myself and others at St. John School for the Deaf…Even now after years of reliving our pain in order to stop the abuse and cover-up, Archbishop Listecki is refusing to cooperate with Attorney General Kaul’s clergy abuse investigation. This is the sad legacy of Pope Benedict in this Archdiocese.”
Photo from CBS 58 report: Arthur signing his message from deaf survivors, link to full report here.
Astoundingly, Archbishop Listecki’s refusal to cooperate with Attorney General Kaul’s investigation into clergy abuse remains unchallenged by the Wisconsin Department of Justice. On Thursday, NBC15 Madison aired a report investigating Kaul’s failure so far to compel any documents and evidence from Wisconsin’s Catholic dioceses and religious orders. Click here to see how Kaul responded.
In order to continue holding the Catholic Church and Wisconsin justice officials accountable to the three generations of survivors represented by Nate’s Mission, including Arthur and his classmates, we need your support now.
Every sign, every projection, every press conference, and every call from survivors who need our help needs you. We can only continue our successful public mission to achieve justice for survivors and safety for Wisconsin’s children if you continue to support us with your generous financial contributions.
Thank you for your support.
Image of hands spelling out the words "thank you" in ASL
Sincerely,
The Nate’s Mission Team