The Velis report said that "from the inception of the complaint through the follow-up process, the procedure was greatly flawed."
In June, Rozanski apologized for the "chronic mishandling of the case, time and time again, since 2014."
"At almost every instance, we have failed this courageous man who nonetheless persevered thanks in part to a reliable support network as well to a deep desire for a just response for the terrible abuse which he endured," the archbishop-designate said at a June press conference, one year after he commissioned Velis to conduct the investigation.
Both a diocesan investigator and a victim's advocate involved in Doe's case are no longer employed by the diocese, and Weldon is now named on the Springfield diocese website as a "deceased bishop who was found to have credible allegations of abuse."
Horne was still critical of the diocese.
"It should not have taken this herculean effort to get justice for the Weldon survivor," he said. "Look at the names and the games - they are the same and finally we have had a few investigations to get to the bottom of the claims we all have been making here for years without any results."
This is not the first time abuse concerns regarding a bishop have surfaced in the Diocese of Springfield. In 2004, Bishop Thomas Dupre became the first Catholic bishop in the U.S. to be indicted on criminal charges for sexual abuse. The case did not go to trial due to the statute of limitations on some charges and because the grand jury decided not to indict on other charges, The Republican reported.
Horne accused the diocese of handling abuse through "an archaic system" that should have been updated after Dupre left, but never was.
The sex abuse victims' advocate also objected to the diocese's delay in naming diocesan priest Father Paul Archambault to its list of credibly accused priests. The priest's name was added in 2016, the year the diocese disclosed its 2011 settlement with an alleged victim. Archambault committed suicide in 2011, after being confronted about his alleged abuse of a teenage boy.
Dupont, the spokesman for the diocese, told CNA the Velis report "had no finding of any cover-up."
However, Velis said his findings raise questions about whether there was an attempt to conceal the report's contents about Bishop Weldon from the review board or Bishop Rozanski. It was not the scope of his investigation to determine responsibility for the apparent deceptive practice or "if and when the reports were switched."
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Rozanski told Velis he was not aware of the specifics of Doe's allegation of abuse by Weldon and did not know about the different reports about Doe's allegation produced by the diocesan investigator.
Velis reported that Rozanski "immediately felt a call to action" when he was made aware there were possible discrepancies in how the complaint was handled.
However, Rozanski said he knew that Weldon was accused of being "present during incidents of abuse that occurred" and acknowledged to Velis that he considered this to be a form of abuse.
Dupont, the Springfield diocesan spokesman, maintained that the diocese did not cover up allegations against Weldon. He told CNA that "our earliest public responses acknowledged Bishop Weldon was allegedly present where the abuse occurred."
The Velis report is not unchallenged. The diocese's most recent vicar general, Monsignor Christopher Connelly, has said he was "unfairly and unfavorably portrayed" in the report, according to The Republican.
Connelly has denied the alleged victim's claim to have told him that Weldon abused him.