Report: Bransfield Paid $350,000 to Fellow Priests, Cardinals
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WHEELING — A Washington Post report, citing confidential Vatican records, shows that former Wheeling-Charleston Diocese bishop Michael Bransfield paid $350,000 to other clergy — some of whom he allegedly harassed — from his personal account and then was reimbursed by the diocese.
The Post report said Archbishop William Lori, apostolic administrator of the Diocese, removed the names of 11 clergy, including his own. Lori, in a letter sent Tuesday to the faithful, admitted he had received $7,500 from Bransfield, and that he would repay the Diocese.
The investigation into Bransfield found that the payments were “part of a broader pattern of abuse of power by the bishop, including harassing young priests and spending church money on personal indulgences,” the report says.
“Bishop Bransfield adopted an extravagant and lavish lifestyle that was in stark contrast to the faithful he served and was for his own personal benefit,” the report says, according to the Post’s reporting.