Fr. James Martin Apologizes for Comments on the Death of Archbishop Weakland which were seen as "seemingly excusing his many sins"
Several people on social media reacted negatively to a Tweet by Fr. James Martin, SJ, regarding the death of Archbishop Rembert Weakland. Archbishop Rembert Weakland resigned after it was discovered that the archdiocese paid a former seminarian over $400,000 to silence him after the two had an sexual relationship. Weakland also mishandled some abuse cases among priests in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. In Fr. Martin's Tweet eulogizing Archbishop Weakland, he praised him without mentioning the egregious digressions during his office.
In his Tweet on August 23rd, Fr. Martin addresses the social media complaints:
“Last night many people were angered by two tweets about Archbishop Rembert Weakland, who committed many sins and crimes, and who died at 95. Obviously I condemn his covering up of sex abuse and his paying out hush money,”
I apologize for seemingly excusing his many sins and crimes. That wasn't my intent: I condemn those actions and should have been clearer.
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) August 23, 2022
But I also ask if people would have sat beside Jesus as he ate with "sinners and tax collectors," as he often did in Galilee and Judea?...
May God have mercy on the soul of Archbishop Rembert Weakland, and may God have mercy on all sinners, which is all of us, myself included.
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) August 23, 2022
Dear friends: Last night many people were angered by two tweets about Archbishop Rembert Weakland, who committed many sins and crimes, and who died at 95. Obviously I condemn his covering up of sex abuse and his paying out hush money, detailed here... https://t.co/Pzrj6wXBtm
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) August 23, 2022
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