Michael Joseph Bransfield

Early life and education

Bransfield was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended St. Bridget's Grade School, St. John the Baptist High School and graduated from Roman Catholic High School for Boys. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Master's degree in Divinity from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Wynnewood.

Ordination and ministry

Bransfield was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal John Krol on May 15, 1971, and then did pastoral work in Huntingdon Valley until 1973. He earned his master's in philosophy from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., in 1973, and then worked as a teacher, chaplain, and chairman of the religion department at Lansdale Catholic High School. In 1987, Pope John Paul II named Bransfield as an honorary prelate.^[1]

Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia

On December 9, 2004, Bransfield was appointed the eighth Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, by Pope John Paul II.

He received episcopal consecration on February 22, 2005 from Cardinal William Henry Keeler, with Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick and Bishop Bernard William Schmitt serving as co-consecrators, at St. Joseph's Cathedral.

A trustee and current president of The Papal Foundation, Bishop Bransfield also sits on the Board of Trustees of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. He holds membership in the Knights of Columbus and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he serves as treasurer and sits on the Communications Committee and the National Collections Committee.

Pope Francis accepted his resignation on September 13, 2018 and named Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese.^[6][7] As required by Vatican law, Bransfield submitted his letter of resignation after turning 75, which occurred the week before it was accepted.^[8] Pope Francis also asked Lori to conduct an investigation into Bishop Bransfield's sexual harassment of adults.^[9][7]

Accusation of sexual abuse

On Wednesday, April 18, 2012, the Associated Press reported that Bishop Bransfield had been accused of sexual abuse of a boy in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. On Thursday, April 19, 2012, a Catholic News Service (CNS) online news brief regarding the matter stated:

Bishop Michael J. Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston said secondhand allegations that he sexually abused a teenage boy are completely false. The accusations against Bishop Bransfield, who was ordained a priest for the Philadelphia Archdiocese, were raised April 18 by a witness at the trial of two Philadelphia priests on sex abuse-related charges. The witness said another Philadelphia priest who has since been removed from ministry told him about the alleged abuse by Bishop Bransfield. "I have never sexually abused anyone", said an April 19 statement from the 68-year-old bishop, who has never been charged with any abuse. He said he understood he was "a public figure and therefore subject to public criticism ... the nature of these statements and the manner in which they were released ... go way beyond any sense of fairness and propriety". Bishop Bransfield said it was "misleading" to report that Stanley Gana, the former priest who is purported to have made the allegation, admitted abusing a minor at a vacation home owned by the bishop. "What did not get released was additional information available to the prosecutor that I was not aware of the incident and was not present at the house at the time ... Gana has confirmed those facts in prior reports ..."^[10][11]

The accusations against Bishop Bransfield were proved false when the alleged victim came forth and flatly denied that he had been abused by Bishop Bransfield.^[12] However, it was also reported that Bransfield transported several teenage boys to Fr. Gana's farmhouse whenever the former priest molested them and allowed Fr. Gana to commit further molestation at his beach house.^[7]

In September 2018, Bransfield resigned effective immediately, faced with unspecified "allegations of sexual misconduct" with adults. At the time he was described as a "close associate of the former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, who resigned from the College of Cardinals in July [2018]" over child and seminarian abuse accusations McCarrick denied.^[13]