CNA Newsroom, Aug 23, 2022 / 16:30 pm
Father James Martin, SJ, said he was sorry Tuesday for not having been clearer about the “sins and crimes” of Archbishop Rembert Weakland, in an earlier tweet noting the death of the Benedictine and retired prelate.
“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,” Martin, an editor at large for America magazine, wrote on Twitter Aug. 23.
“I can see how people thought I was downplaying (or even ignoring) his sins and crimes. I'm sorry for not being clearer about that.”
Martin had, on Aug. 22, tweeted about Weakland’s death, saying, “An erudite scholar, gifted pastor and Benedictine abbot primate, his legacy was marred by revelations that he paid money to a man with whom he had been in a relationship. I considered him a friend and mourn his loss. May he rest in peace.”