Early life Donald Trautman was born in
Buffalo, New York, and attended
Niagara University in
Lewiston, New York. 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). 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.
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.
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. 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. 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. 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. A male accuser had previously disclosed his allegations of sexual abuse against Presley to the Erie Diocese in 1982, 1987, and 2002. 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. Two other men accused Freeman of molesting them when they were boys and complaints against Freeman surfaced as early as 1981. ==See also==