Milwaukee Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba statement
The initial report of an allegation against Father George
Nuedling did in fact come to me in 1986. The substance of that accusation was not sexual abuse. It was about an action occurring some thirty years earlier which indicated serious unprofessional behavior, but not that of sexual abuse - not in my judgment nor in the judgment of the professionals I consulted.
I confronted Father Nuedling with the accusation, and he admitted that it had occurred just prior to his entrance into treatment for alcoholism
thirty years earlier. There was never any Archdiocesan knowledge or
indication of sexual abuse on his part, neither by anyone at the
Archdiocese nor by any of his colleagues or associates. To suggest cover-
up on anyone's part at the time is simply not correct.
When another accusation came forward some five years later, one which was more clearly that of sexual abuse, Fr. Nuedling was retired and prohibited from any public ministry.
My letter of apology to the people of St John's last month was not for the assigning of a molesting priest, but for being part of a church culture which simply didn't speak of such things as publicly as we should and do today.
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