The big news from the US last week concerned the unprecedented amends Bishop Mark E Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston has ordered his disgraced predecessor, Bishop Michael J Bransfield, to undertake. These measures include specific apologies to some of those he wronged and restitution of roughly $900,000 he either misappropriated from diocesan funds for personal use, or personally owes in tax as a result of his misappropriation.
The plan Bishop Brennan (pictured) has drawn up for Bishop Bransfield includes several other elements in addition to the apologies and financial restitution, ranging from loss of his retirement benefits and the right to burial within the diocese. Bishop Bransfield will subsist on a standard pension for a priest of Wheeling-Charleston with 13 years’ service – $736 monthly – and will be responsible for securing his own long-term healthcare and disability benefits.
