In January 2006, Gumbleton testified before the Ohio General Assembly in favor of a bill expanding the statute of limitations for sexual abuse victims to file lawsuits against their alleged abusers.
In his statement, he told the assembly that he “[did] not speak in any official capacity on behalf of the Archdiocese of Detroit, nor any regional nor national group of bishops,” though he said he testified “as a priest of the Catholic Church for almost 50 years and a bishop for almost 38 years.” In that testimony, he also said he had been inappropriately touched by a priest while a teenager.
Gumbleton submitted his resignation to then-Pope Benedict XVI less than a month later, in early February. He later claimed that Church leaders had responded negatively to his testimony and that the Vatican had demanded he resign from his role as bishop and as pastor of St. Leo Parish in Detroit.
The prelate was already on the cusp of resignation at the time; he had turned 75 the year before, the age at which bishops are generally required to submit their resignation. Gumbleton himself had requested that he be allowed to continue serving in his role, but the Congregation for Bishops (now the Dicastery for Bishops) had refused.
Gumbleton later said he had corresponded with the congregation for nearly a year on the matter before ultimately submitting his resignation shortly after his testimony at the Ohio Statehouse.
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