Franciscans to pay funeral costs of man fathered by Wisconsin priest

November 13, 2009

The Franciscan order has agreed to pay the funeral costs of Nathan Halbach, a 22-year-old brain cancer patient fathered in 1986 by Father Henry Willenborg. Mr. Halbach’s mother, Pat Bond, says that she and Father Willenborg had a five-year affair after she had sought counseling from him to help save her trouble marriage. During the affair, she became a lay leader in the parish; Father Willenborg, she said, ended the affair when he became interested in another woman.

“My failure to be faithful to my vows has caused me and many others pain and disappointment,” said Father Willenborg, now suspended from his ministry. “I have regretted this for a long time.”

“When it comes to this person who's my dad, who should be helping me out more than a person on the street, he hasn't done so throughout my 20-plus years of life,” observed Mr. Halbach. He and his mother have received $223,000 in support from the Franciscans during his lifetime; the order is reportedly not helping to pay for his current medical care.

 

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Further information:

• Father Henry, a secret father (CNN)