When Bishop Dolan ran the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, he offered abusive priests up to $20,000 each to leave the ministry. However, when asked about this arrangement earlier in time, he denied ever doing such a thing.
Cardinal Dolan, then the archbishop, responded that such an inference was “false, preposterous and unjust.”
But now with the bankruptcy proceedings in Milwaukee for the Archdiocese, the records show that the lying bishop did make such offers:
A spokesman for the archdiocese confirmed on Wednesday that payments of as much as $20,000 were made to “a handful” of accused priests “as a motivation” not to contest being defrocked. The process, known as “laicization,” is a formal church juridical procedure that requires Vatican approval, and can take far longer if the priest objects.
link to the story
Meanwhile, a poll in New York shows that people think that the Catholic Chuurch is too involved in politics:
The Quinnipiac University survey found 43 percent saying Catholic Church leaders are too involved, with only 11 percent saying they're not involved enough. Among Catholics, 33 percent say the church is too involved and only 17 percent not involved enough.
link to the article here
It seems that the bishops believe they can say what they want, and do what they want, and still believe that they have moral authority. I call this self-deception.