Faithful America has placed a petition online today asking Cardinal Dolan to resign following the disclosure that he transferred millions of dollars in the Milwaukee archdiocese to hide the funds from abuse survivors seeking justice. Faithful America writes, "Dolan put protecting the church's money ahead of watching over his flock. Let's make sure he sees that this scandal isn't going away, and it's time for him to go."
The petition reads,
Cardinal Dolan, your shameful actions -- trying to hide church funds from clergy sexual abuse victims and then lying about it -- render you unfit to lead. For the sake of the church, you must resign immediately.
As Andrew Sullivan wrote yesterday,
So, twice now, we have been forced to choose between his words and our lyin’ eyes, when it comes to questions of how he handled and cosseted child-rapists under his jurisdiction in Milwaukee. We now know he deliberately sequestered church assets so he could argue he had no more funds to compensate those raped by his subordinates. He was once again putting the institutional church’s interests above those of the raped. And he seems to be able to lie about all of it – in the face of massive evidence – with nary a flicker of hesitation.
And as Mark Silk noted on the same day,
And to date, the Vatican has manifested no standards, procedures, or appetite for disciplining hierarchs who behave improperly in abuse cases — even if, as in the case of Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City, they have been convicted of covering up abuse in civil court.
If Pope Francis is indeed serious about cleaning up his Church, there can be no higher priority than to turn this situation around.
How can Pope Francis's recent call for bishops to be pastoral leaders first and foremost have any real meaning at all--how can it be anything other than window dressing--as long as Dolan sits tight on his episcopal throne and heads the USCCB?
