The nuns at Mount de Chantal moved to Washington in December, leaving their property, which is adjacent to Wheeling Jesuit U., for disposal.
The sisters have indicated an evaluation of the property and its contents is continuing as there are many valuable items involved in the property’s liquidation.
“The future of the Mount de Chantal complex of six buildings with construction dates ranging from 1865 to 1982 has been and will continue to be studied by a group of expert advisors who assist the sisters,” [Sister Mary Alicia] Sours [the superior] added.
Reports at the time of Rev. Julio Giulietti’s ouster as president of Wheeling Jesuit had it that if the bishop were behind the ouster, this property was an issue. For instance,
“First and foremost,” [alumnus Steve] Haid wrote [in a letter published in The Charleston Gazette], “Father Julio’s lynching was the handiwork of Bishop Michael Bransfield, who wanted to slap down a Jesuit priest who sought to acquire the Mount de Chantal property for Wheeling Jesuit.”
A sale was in the works, but Bishop Bransfield opposed it.
“I was not in favor of the sale of property to Wheeling Jesuit because the price they offered the sisters was half of the price offered by competing bidders,” Bransfield wrote in a message to [National Catholic Reporter].
It never went through. Bishop Bransfield’s financial officer chaired the board that tried to get Giulietti fired, but the bishop had nothing to do with it, said Davitt McAteer, WJU’s interim president until recently.
“There was no involvement by Bishop Michael Bransfield in the firing of Julio Giulietti, stop, end of game,” said McAteer. “We’re seeing the effects of the anonymous Web and the efforts of a small clique who are unhappy. It’s the guy in the theater yelling fire.”
Blithe Spirit 