{{Short description|Catholic bishop (1936–2022)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2015}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Bishop | name = Donald Walter Trautman | title = Bishop Emeritus of Erie | image = Coat of arms of Donald Walter Trautman.svg | alt = | caption = | church = | archdiocese = | diocese = Erie | see = | appointed = June 2, 1990 | term_start = July 16, 1990 | term_end = July 31, 2012 | predecessor = Michael Joseph Murphy | successor = Lawrence T. Persico<!-- Orders --> | ordination = April 2, 1962 | ordained_by = Paulus Rusch | consecration = April 16, 1985 | consecrated_by = Edward Dennis Head, Bernard Joseph McLaughlin, and Stanislaus Joseph Brzana | rank = <!-- Personal details --> | birth_date = {{Birth date|1936|6|24}} | birth_place = Buffalo, New York | death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|2|26|1936|6|24}} | death_place = | religion = Catholic | previous_post = {{unbulleted list|Auxiliary Bishop of Buffalo (1985–1990)|Titular Bishop of Sassura (1985–1990)}} | motto = Feed my sheep | honorific-prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | coat_of_arms = Coat of arms of Donald Walter Trautman.svg }}
{{Infobox bishopstyles | name= Donald Walter Trautman | dipstyle= *His Excellency *The Most Reverend | offstyle=Your Excellency | relstyle=Bishop | image = Coat of arms of Donald Walter Trautman.svg | image_size = 200px }}
'''Donald Walter Trautman''' (June 24, 1936 – February 26, 2022) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Erie in Western Pennsylvania from 1990 to 2011. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo in Upstate New York from 1985 to 1990.
==Biography==
=== Early life === Donald Trautman was born in Buffalo, New York, and attended Niagara University in Lewiston, New York.<ref name="history6">{{cite web|title=1990-Present |publisher=Diocese of Erie |url=http://www.eriercd.org/history6.asp |access-date=2007-07-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070802183343/http://www.eriercd.org/history6.asp |archive-date=August 2, 2007 |df=mdy }}</ref> He studied theology under Karl Rahner at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, where he obtained his Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1962.
=== Priesthood === Trautman was ordained to the priesthood in Innsbruck on April 7, 1962, for the Diocese of Buffalo. On his return to New York, he was assigned as a parish administrator in Collins, New York, then associate pastor at a parish in Buffalo.
Trautman studied biblical language for one year at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., continuing his post-graduate work in Rome at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, earning his Licentiate in Scripture in 1965. During his studies in Rome, Trautman served as a ''peritus'', or theological expert, at the Second Vatican Council. In 1966, he earned his Doctor of Sacred Theology degree from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum).<ref name="history6" />
From 1966 to 1973, Trautman taught Scripture and theology at St. John Vianney Seminary in Buffalo, where he also served as dean of students. Trautman worked as a retreat master for religious communities, and vice-president and president of Buffalo's Pastoral Council. He was private secretary to Bishop Edward Head, and later named chancellor (1973) and vicar general (1974) of the diocese. He was raised to the rank of an Honorary Prelate of His Holiness in 1975.
=== Auxiliary Bishop of Buffalo === On February 27, 1985, Trautman was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo and Titular Bishop of Sassura by Pope John Paul II. He received episcopal consecration on April 16, 1985, from Bishop Head, with bishops Bernard McLaughlin and Stanislaus Brzana serving as co-consecrators, at St. Joseph Cathedral in Buffalo. After a period of pastoral work, he became rector of Christ the King Seminary.
=== Bishop of Erie === Pope John Paul II appointed Trautman as bishop of the Diocese of Erie on June 2, 1990. As bishop, he improved the diocesan youth and vocational programs, renovated the interior of St. Peter Cathedral, and established a diocesan Deposit and Loan Fund and a retirement home for clergy dedicated in honor of his predecessor, Bishop Michael Murphy.
Trautman was a participant of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, having served as chairman of the committees on doctrine, USCCB financial audit, and liturgy. Trautman also served as the episcopal moderator of the Apostleship of the Sea and of the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference. The edition of April 4, 2007, of ''L'Osservatore Romano'' accidentally announced Bishop Trautman had died when he was confused with former bishop Michael Murphy, who had died April 2.<ref name="fake" /> The mistake was also noted by a cartoon in ''The Tablet''.<ref name="fake">{{Cite news |last=Bruce |first=David |title=Report of bishop's death a whopper |date=June 3, 2007 |newspaper=Erie Times-News |access-date=July 1, 2007 |url=http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070603/LIFESTYLES07/706030414&SearchID=73285866207720 |archive-date=March 11, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311110357/http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070603/LIFESTYLES07/706030414&SearchID=73285866207720 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Trautman was critical of the ''motu proprio'' ''Summorum Pontificum'' and indicated that those priests who celebrate such a Mass would first need to show that they have the requisite knowledge of its rubrics and of Latin.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Nancy Frazier |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0703915.htm |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20070710201958/http%3A//www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0703915.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 10, 2007 |title=U.S. bishops say pope affirming importance of Mass in both its forms. |publisher=Catholic News Service |date=July 12, 2007 |access-date=February 1, 2009 }}</ref><ref>[https://adoremus.org/2004/12/15/Bishops-Send-Mixed-Signals-at-USCCB-Meeting/ "Bishops Send Mixed Signals at USCCB Meeting"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128204119/https://adoremus.org/2004/12/15/Bishops-Send-Mixed-Signals-at-USCCB-Meeting/ |date=November 28, 2019 }} January 2005</ref>
=== Retirement === In June 2011, Trautman turned 75, at which point canon law requests that a bishop tender his resignation to the Pope. Trautman's successor, Monsignor Lawrence T. Persico, was appointed on July 31, 2012, at which point the Pope accepted Trautman's resignation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/US.php?id%3D5894#ixzz22EjxE9OY |title=Pennsylvania diocese thrilled with new bishop appointment :: EWTN News |access-date=2012-07-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802114944/http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/US.php?id=5894#ixzz22EjxE9OY |archive-date=August 2, 2012 |df=mdy }}</ref>
=== Handling of sex abuse cases === On August 14, 2018, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro published a grand jury report concerning sex abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses, including Erie.<ref name="aug141">{{cite web| url = http://www.tribdem.com/news/put-victims-first-erie-bishop-praised-by-ag-denounces-cover/article_a042bec0-a02c-11e8-a64e-1f29a164fe16.html| title = 'Put victims first': Erie bishop, praised by AG, denounces cover-ups in church {{!}} News {{!}} tribdem.com}}</ref> In the report, Trautman was criticized alongside former Bishop Murphy for allowing "predator priest" Chester Gawronski to remain in the Diocese despite numerous allegations of sexual abuse.<ref name="aug141" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.observertoday.com/news/page-one/2018/08/priest-with-local-ties-accused-of-sex-abuse/|title = Priest with local ties accused of sex abuse}}</ref> Trautman afterwards released a statement criticizing Shapiro's portrayal of him in the report and noted that he had established guidelines in 1993 concerning how to deal with sexual abuse and later established the Diocesan Office for the Protection of Children and Youth in 2003 to protect children from sex abuse.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news/former-bishop-of-erie-donald-trautman-releases-statement/1368259065|title=Former Bishop of Erie Donald Trautman releases statement|date=August 14, 2018}}</ref> Nevertheless, it was acknowledged that both Murphy and Trautman reassigned Gawronski multiple times between 1987 and 2002 and that Trautman renewed Gawronski's five-year term as a chaplain in St Mary's Home in Erie in 2001.<ref name="aug141" />
Two secret memos which were published by Erie priest and future Bishop of Altoona-Johnstown Mark Bartchak in August 2005 also revealed that Bartchak had told Trautman he had become aware of more witnesses to past sex abuse cases while investigating a sex abuse case against former Erie priest William Presley and that Trautman afterwards ordered that "additional witnesses should not be contacted, especially given the fact that it is not likely that they will lead to information" about crimes against minors.<ref name="aug145626">{{Cite web|url=http://www.starbeacon.com/news/grand-jury-report-links-altoona-johnstown-bishop-to-abuse-case/article_0add87b9-f31e-5d56-be64-f45de8b20ef9.html|title = Grand jury report links Altoona-Johnstown bishop to abuse case and cover-up in Erie}}</ref> A male accuser had previously disclosed his allegations of sexual abuse against Presley to the Erie Diocese in 1982, 1987, and 2002.<ref name="aug145626" /> Presley had also transferred to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg in 1986.<ref name="aug145626" />
In June 2019, James Bottlinger, who was suing the Diocese of Buffalo, accused Trautman of protecting his abuser, Rev. Michael Freeman, from potential prosecution when Trautman served as vicar general in the 1980s. Trautman denied seeing Bottlinger in Freeman's private quarters.<ref name="june20192">{{Cite web|url=https://buffalonews.com/2019/06/20/top-buffalo-diocese-official-allegedly-scolded-boy-who-accused-priest-of-abuse/|title=Top Buffalo diocese official allegedly scolded boy who accused priest of abuse|date=2019-06-20|website=The Buffalo News|language=en-us|access-date=2019-06-21}}</ref> Bottlinger, who claims that Freeman started abusing him in 1984 later stated that Trautman told him "You should have never put yourself in that position" when he met with Trautman to report the abuse.<ref name="june20193">{{Cite web|url=https://buffalonews.com/2019/06/18/man-who-rejected-650000-in-priest-abuse-case-calls-award-insignificant/|title=Man who refused $650K settlement says diocese knew priest was predator|date=2019-06-18|website=The Buffalo News|language=en-us|access-date=2019-06-21}}</ref> Two other men accused Freeman of molesting them when they were boys and complaints against Freeman surfaced as early as 1981.<ref name="june20192" /><ref name="june20193" /> Freeman died in 2010.<ref name="june20193" />
=== Death === Trautman died on February 26, 2022, at the age of 85.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Donald Walter Trautman [Catholic-Hierarchy]|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/btrautman.html|access-date=February 27, 2022|website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}</ref>
==See also== {{portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|Pennsylvania}} {{div col}} * Catholic Church hierarchy * Catholic Church in the United States * Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States * List of Catholic bishops of the United States * Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops {{div col end}}
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== *[http://www.eriercd.org/ Diocese of Erie Official Site]
==Episcopal succession== {{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} |- {{s-bef|before=Michael Joseph Murphy}} {{s-ttl|title=Bishop of Erie|years=1990–2012}} {{s-aft|after=Lawrence T. Persico}} |- {{s-bef|before=–}} {{s-ttl|title=Auxiliary Bishop of Buffalo|years=1985–1990}} {{s-aft|after=–}} |- {{s-bef|before=Vincent Ignatius Kennally}} {{s-tul|title=Bishop of Sassura|years=1985–1990}} {{s-aft|after=Juozas Tunaitis}} {{s-end}}
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie}} {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trautman, Donald Walter}} Category:1936 births Category:2022 deaths Category:Participants in the Second Vatican Council Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Erie Category:Religious leaders from Buffalo, New York Category:Niagara University alumni Category:University of Innsbruck alumni Category:Catholic University of America alumni Category:Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni Category:Pontifical Biblical Institute alumni Category:Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Category:American expatriates in Austria Category:American expatriates in Italy