Weakland stated in his autobiography that in the early years of the sexual abuse scandal he did not understand that child sexual abuse was a crime. In 1965–66, Weakland served as President of the Church Music Association of America. According to an account by Richard Schuler, a split emerged very quickly, with Weakland taking sharp exception to the "reactionary attitudes in liturgical thinking" that he said were present at the "Consociato" meeting. In interviews with the press, he expressed regret that the meeting failed to include modern music and dancing in its liturgical agenda. His views did not prevail within the CMAA, and so his presidency did not last. In 2000, Weakland was a critic of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's document "Dominus Iesus" on religious relativism. One of his last major actions as archbishop was effecting a controversial renovation of the historic Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee. Weakland retired on May 24, 2002, at the mandatory retirement age of 75. His retirement was overshadowed by revelations that he paid $450,000 of diocesan funds to prevent a lawsuit. Weakland stepped down soon after it was revealed that the diocese had paid $450,000 to Paul Marcoux, a former Marquette University theology student, to settle a claim he made against the archbishop more than two decades earlier stemming from a long-term relationship with Weakland. Weakland admitted to the affair and apologized after the story broke. He came out as gay in 2009, disclosing his sexuality in his memoir "A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop". Since his retirement, Weakland has twice been invited to move to Benedictine abbeys in the United States, but both invitations were eventually rescinded. In March 2019, it was announced that Weakland, along with former Archbishop William Cousins, would have his name removed from buildings in the Archdiocese in response to his poor handling of sex abuse cases. The Weakland Center, which houses parish offices and outreach initiatives, was renamed on March 22, 2019.