Lawrence Murphy, William Cousins, Rembert Weakland and the Sedevacantism of Alex Gibney: Part 1

 Part 1: 1950 to 1975

St. John School for the Deaf and Fr. Murphy

Father Lawrence Murphy was ordained at the age of 25 in 1950 and assigned to St. John School for the Deaf immediately after ordination.  The school, built in the late 1800’s, was located in St. Francis, Wisconsin, just south of Milwaukee.  Murphy, who could use American Sign Language “gracefully and beautifully,” was chaplain until he became the Director of the school in July, 1963.  In the mid-1960’s he oversaw the construction of new facilities to replace the old buildings.

At the center of the building frenzy was Murphy, a gregarious Irishman, short in stature with a smile that could melt ice. Yearbook photos and newspaper clippings show him as a whirlwind of activity, accepting thousands of dollars for the school from civic groups, coaching basketball and giving speeches all over town about deafness and why people should contribute to St. John’s.⁽¹⁾

Murphy left the school in September, 1974, the circumstances of his departure disguised by archdiocesan authorities as “temporary sick leave.”⁽²⁾  Decades later, people would learn that the Archbishop of Milwaukee had been forced to remove him because of complaints that he had been sexually abusing deaf boys at the school. It was later estimated that he had sexually assaulted 100 to 200 boys during his tenure.⁽³⁾  Read more . . .