SNAP Great Plains, communication site for SNAP chapters on Minnesota / Iowa

March 15, 2007

TO: Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of Milwaukee

FROM: Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director

RE: Fr. Joseph Collova

Archbishop Dolan:

On Saturday, April 26, Joseph Collova, a Roman Catholic priest suspended by the Archdiocese of
Milwaukee for credible and substantiated reports of child sexual abuse, will be ordained in Dousman
as a bishop in the Independent Roman Catholic Church. When Collova was exposed by SNAP
officials to be operating a church in Dousman in July, 2004 the Archdiocese announced that he had
been placed on the list of priests determined to have sexually assaulted minors and could not engage
in sacramental ministry as a priest, present himself as a priest in public, or in any way function as a
minister.

At that time, Collova had joined the Independent “Evangelical” Catholic Church, in part, according
to the denomination’s leader, because the Archdiocese had not informed him that Collova had been
officially suspended from practicing as a priest for abusing children. Since then, Collova appears to
have been placed on suspension by the denomination as well, who has posted this suspension on their
website (see links posted below this letter).

Now, he is being ordained as a bishop in the Independent Catholic Church. Collova’s Wisconsin
parish website strongly suggests that the sacraments of the Independent Catholic Church originate
through a validly ordained Roman Catholic Bishop and considered valid by Pope Benedict. In
Collova’s case, since it is unknown whether he has been laicized by Rome, he may present, one can
surmise, convincing arguments to those who are members of his church and for those who are
interested in joining

In the interest of public safety, we are urging you to:

1. Directly alert the Dousman community as to Collova’s history of sexually assaulting children.

2. Appeal to denominational leaders of the Independent Catholic Church to not ordain Collova a
bishop and why.

3. Release Collova’s file to the public, so there can be no question as to why you suspended him from
ministry and his current disposition under canon law.

4. Publicly Condemn Collova for presenting his sacramental ministry as in any way valid in the
Catholic Church.

5. Make specific outreach to Catholic parishes in the Dousman area that Collova cannot function as
a priest.

6. Reach out to parishes where the Archdiocese permitted Collova to work where he assaulted
children and appeal for victims and witnesses to come forward to law enforcement.

As the Archbishop of our state’s largest denomination, you share with the small Independent
Catholic Church here a legal shield, unique in the entire United States, from all corporate
accountability for pedophile clergy, negligent supervision, or fraudulently placing dangerous clergy
in harms way of children and families.

We have urged you to support legislation that would bring Wisconsin in line with the rest of the
United States in its clergy abuse laws. Instead you have paid lobbyists to oppose these reforms. In
April, your lawyers will, again, paid ultimately through Catholic charitable contributions, argue
before our state supreme court that church leaders, like yourself and Archbishop Weakland and
Bishop Banks of Green Bay, should, unlike all other organizational leaders in the state, never be
sued for actions that lead to the assault and rape of children based on the first amendment. In other
words, the first amendment should protect not just free speech, but criminal or negligent conduct.
Relgion and religious institutions, a source of such great good in our society, can also be a means of
perpetrat great evil, as we have learned through rape of children by clergy, including, obviously non
catholic clergy, and the cover up by church authorities.

Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director
Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests
414.429.7249
peterisely@yahoo.com