Cardinal Levada did not report abusive priest in 1995 San Francisco case

April 29, 2010

During his tenure as Archbishop of San Francisco, Cardinal William Levada chose not to inform police about a priest who admitted molesting an adolescent boy, an AP story reports. Cardinal Levada is now prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles disciplinary cases involving sexual abuse by priests.

In 2005, the future cardinal testified that he did not report Father Milton Walsh to law-enforcement officials, although the priest admitted fonding a teenage boy, because he was persuaded that Walsh would not offend again. There is no record of a subsequent complaint against Walsh.

Jeffrey Lena, a lawyer representing Cardinal Levada, points out that the Walsh case dates back to 1995, before the US bishops designed their "zero tolerance" policy for sex-abuse cases.

 

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Further information:

• Vatican official left abusive priest in pastor job (AP)