ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) – Brand new, once-secret files on 19 monks from St. John’s Abbey show they may have abused hundreds of children. Attorney Jeff Anderson released the files of 5 of those monks Tuesday, saying time is running out for victims to step forward.

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St. John’s Abbey agreed to release these files as part of a court settlement with a victim who was known as John Doe No. 2. That victim’s real name is Troy Bramlage, and he stepped forward to encourage other victims to do the same.

“We still need to get our voices out to people who have not come forward,” Bramlage said.

Anderson released the files of 5 previously accused monks, but the documents on one of them — Father Finian McDonald — shows a man with a troubled past.

“He admits in the file an attraction to boys as young as 12 with no ability to control his sexual impulses,” Anderson said.

A psychological profile in 2012 revealed that the total number of sexual partners reported during his priesthood as 200. Father McDonald was just one monk in the files. The clock is ticking because the statute of limitations on the Child Protection Act runs out in just 6 months, which is why Bramlage and Anderson’s attorneys are urging victims to step forward now.

“Be John Doe, be Jane Doe. Be whatever you are comfortable with. Go to whatever you think will help you,” Bramlage said. “Whether that’s these gentlemen or somebody else. But make your story known.”

In an online statement, St. John’s Abbot John Klassen says the Abbey accepts full responsibility for the abuses that have been committed, adding, “We are hopeful that, with this disclosure, we can help survivors find peace and resolution.”

(SC Times) ST. PAUL — The personnel files of five St. John’s Abbey monks were released Tuesday as part of the settlement of a lawsuit against the abbey and one of its monks.

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The files show that one monk admitted to each having more than 200 sexual encounters and another credibly accused monk was paid $30,000 to leave the priesthood, according to the files.

Attorney Jeff Anderson held a press conference to announce the release of the files on the Rev. Finian McDonald, the Rev. Bruce Wollmering, Francis Hoefgen, the Rev. Thomas Gillespie and the Rev. Richard Eckroth.

Hoefgen was arrested in Stearns County in 1984 in connection with a report of sexual abuse against a 17-year-old boy who had been living with Hoefgen temporarily. Hoefgen was a priest at St. Boniface parish in Cold Spring at the time. He wasn’t charged in the case. Hoefgen left the priesthood in 2011 and got a $30,000 check from the abbey.

“The troubling part is they are paying the offender more money to keep quiet and quietly walk away than they would any of the survivors coming forward,” Anderson said. “Hush money.”

The files released this week include thousands of pages detailing the monks’ work histories, educational backgrounds and personal correspondence. They also include allegations of inappropriate conduct by the monks, most dating back several years.

“There are documents in each file which may be quoted and framed in a lurid context. But the huge majority of the documents in each of these files acknowledges the very real failures of some monks while showing each of the accused monks as a fallible, relatable person,” according to a statement issued Tuesday by Abbot John Klassen. “The files also show that the abbey did not try to cover up allegations and did a reasonable job of managing the monk and the problem.”

Anderson strongly disagreed, saying that monks violated the terms of their safety plans without consequence, that inappropriate behavior happened with some monks in the last few years and that “many offenders were allowed access to so many kids for so many years.”

A 2013 complaint alleged that Gillespie was sending inappropriate e-mails to a St. John’s University student. In 2006, Wollmering was accused of the same thing.

In 2011, there are complaints about McDonald’s level of access to students. And in 2012, he was inappropriate with an employee.

“These are concerns about now and in real time,” Anderson said.

The abbey turned over the files of 19 monks; the rest are expected to be released by Anderson’s office after sensitive material has been redacted. The files show that McDonald admitted to more than 200 sexual encounters.

The majority of those encounters were with consenting adults, but it’s unknown how many, Anderson said.

Much of the information discussed at the press conference has been known publicly for years, but details behind the cases are new.

The 19 files include monks living at St. John’s under safety plans, nine monks who are deceased and two who have left St. John’s and the Benedictine order.

Anderson has files of “all monks against whom there have been credible allegations of misconduct involving minors,” according to Klassen’s statement. He said the abbey has tried to be “transparent and thorough in confronting credible allegations” and has accepted “full responsibility for abuses that have been committed and has made sincere and heartfelt apologies directly to victims and their families as well as through the media and in other public forums.”

The lawsuit that led to the release of the priest files was filed by Troy Bramlage against the Rev. Allen Tarlton. That case was scheduled for trial earlier this year but settled.

Bramlage said the release of the files is a good step, but that he had “fire coming out of his eyes” when he saw the abbey say that the incidents were 30-40 years old. He encouraged other victims to come forward in the hopes that more information will be released.

“I want to at least come out and say ‘This happens. It’s real. I’m one of those people. Use my face. Come forward and be John Doe 10,’” Bramlage said.

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Settlement sparks release of monk files
David Unze
St. Cloud Times
November 24, 2015

(Star Tribune) One priest reported 200 sexual encounters, including some with students at St. John’s University and prep school.

Another recorded the names of dozens of boys he brought to a cabin, some of whom he sexually abused.

Another abuser was paid $30,000 by St. John’s Abbey to support him as he left the clergy.

These are among findings from the first batch of personnel files from St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville made public Tuesday. The abbey was required to release its internal files on priests credibly accused of child sex abuse as part of a lawsuit settled earlier this year. It marks the first time the abbey — implicated in clergy abuse cases for two decades — has opened its confidential files.

The files include the abuse accusations, abbey response, and psychological assessments of the men from roughly the 1960s to a few years ago. That includes a 2012 assessment of the Rev. Finian McDonald, who told a psychologist that he had about 200 sexual encounters as a priest.

McDonald reported that his youngest victims were 13- or 14-year-old prostitutes in Thailand, that he had 18 victims while serving as a prefect at St. John’s dormitories, and that he had acted out sexually and abused alcohol during most of his 29 years as a dormitory prefect. Sexual encounters also occurred with adults.

The abbey issued a written statement in response to the document release by victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson.

“There are documents in each file which may be quoted and framed in a lurid context,” wrote abbey spokesman Brother Aelred Senna. “But the huge majority of the documents in each of these files acknowledges the very real failures of some monks while showing each of the accused monks as a fallible, relatable person.”

The files “show that the Abbey did not try to cover up allegations and did a reasonable job of managing the monk and the problem,” he wrote.

However, Anderson, whose lawsuit forced the file release, said the magnitude of sexual encounters reported in just the five priest files indicates that many more students or other minors have not stepped forward to report abuse.

“So many offenders were allowed access to so many kids for so many years,” said Anderson at a news conference. “This reflects to us … that there are dozens and hundreds of survivors that are yet to be known.”

In addition to McDonald, files were also released on the Rev. Tom Gillespie, former priest Fran Hoefgen, the Rev. Bruce Wollmering and the Rev. Richard Eckroth. Eckroth and Wollmering are deceased.

Hoefgen was acquitted earlier this year of sexually abusing a boy while he was a priest in a Hastings parish. However, the files show that Hoefgen admitted to abusing a teen in the early 1980s. And in 1994, Hoefgen reported to then-Abbot Timothy Kelly that he had a sexual encounter with a St. John’s student in the student’s dorm room, the files show.

The abbey eventually gave Hoefgen a $30,000 “gift” to help him transition out of the priesthood.

St. John’s is one of the largest Benedictine monasteries in North America. It shares a campus with students at St. John’s prep school and those at St. John’s University. Many of its priests also have served Twin Cities parishes.

Both McDonald and Wollmering worked for decades as student counselors. The files show that Wollmering received a psychological diagnosis in 2004 of “sexual disorder with compulsive and exploitive behaviors.” A St. John’s student reported in 2006 that Wollmering bragged to him that he had 300 “sexual partners.”

Anderson said the abbey allowed known offenders to have access to minors, and he questioned the enforcement of the safety plans that are supposed to restrict the priests’ access to kids.

Gillespie, for example, abused a child in Stillwater in 1978 and had restricted access to minors, the documents show. But in 2013, a student complained that Gillespie was sending him e-mails and showing up unwanted at his school events.

Eckroth, meanwhile, brought boys to a St. John’s cabin for years, giving and getting massages to the boys while naked in the sauna.

Troy Bramlage is the St. Cloud man whose lawsuit against the abbey was settled with the provision that the personnel files be released. He said he hopes that more victims will step forward, as the scope and details of the abuse is revealed.

“People need to know they don’t have to suffer alone,” he said.

The abbey has identified 19 priests credibly accused of child sex abuse. Files on the others will be released in the months ahead, said Anderson.

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St. John’s Abbey monk accused of abuse reports 200 sexual encounters
Jean Hopfensperger
Star Tribune
November 24, 2015

(Worthy Adversary) Everything the bishops have been led you to believe about the independent power of lay review boards is deliberately misleading.

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Citing a sex-offening priest’s “right to privacy,” a newly released Vatican document shows that priests are able to shield potentially damning evidence from review boards who are charged with determining whether abuse allegations against a priest have merit.

The 2006 document, sent from a Vatican office that oversees religious orders, says that canon law states that no priest’s files may be turned over to a third party, including internal and external review boards, without the priest’s permission and signature.

You can read the documents here. Start at page 94 (stamped on the actual page as 00526). The findings of the Vatican office—saying that McDonald’s privacy was violated and that review boards may not access a personnel file without the priest’s signature is on page 100 (stamped 00532)

The review boards were set up by bishops nationally as a part of sweeping 2002 reforms instituted as a result of the Boston Archdiocese sex abuse scandal. They are a part of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” While religious orders like the Benedictine’s were not a part of the agreement, the Canon Law cited in the Vatican’s response applies to all priests, whether they belong to a diocese or a religious order.

In fact, a simple google search using the words “priest cleared by review board” yields 74,000 results – with page after page after page of stories about how reviews boards didn’t have enough evidence to kick a priest out of ministry.

How many of those boards didn’t see the priest’s secret file? I’m guessing all of them.

Experts say that without the priests personnel file, review boards miss “99% percent” of the church’s own evidence against an offending priest, including written admissions of guilt, letters from victims, witness accounts, treatment records, and internal investigation reports. As a result, hundreds of offending priests nationwide—whose cases went before similar review boards nationwide—may still be working in parishes and with children.

The document was released as a part of the file of Benedictine priest and monk Finian McDonald, who worked and lived at St. John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, MN. McDonald, who church officials called “a serial predator of our students,” (see doc 655) had been accused of molesting numerous college-age students at the Catholic college.

McDonald’s case was brought before the Benedictine’s review board, who was charged with determining whether allegations against McDonald had merit and whether he should remain a priest. When the review board was given McDonald’s file, which included a psychiatric report that called McDonald a serious “moral, legal and financial risk” (see doc 293), McDonald petitioned the Vatican, citing common knowledge and canon law.

I served on a lay review board.

They were a puppet then and they remain a puppet now.

And now we have the proof.

Source: http://theworthyadversary.com/3806-vatican-thwarts-review-boards-documents-show

“Hmmm … if the 6th though 12th graders at [Saint John’s Preparatory School]  want to get something to eat or attend Mass, how do they avoid all of those pesky sex-offending monks in the Monastic Residence?” – Joelle Casteix

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Sex offending monks have no contact with students … or do they?

From the statement by St. John’s (MN) Abbey regarding the recent release of of the personnel files of five sex-offending monks:

“The files provided include those of monks currently living on the Saint John’s campus under safety plans. Their actions are limited and they are closely supervised.”

Hmmm … if the 6th though 12th graders at the prep school want to get something to eat or attend Mass, how do they avoid all of those pesky sex-offending monks in the Monastic Residence?

And unless those pesky monks have ankle monitoring bracelets (which they don’t), how the St. John’s management able to keep the offenders away from the kids? Do they show the 6th graders photos of Finian McDonald and say, “If you see this man, run away!”?

If your child’s school has had a sex abuse scandal or houses numerous sex-offending priests, think about other education options. The school will always lie and minimize (just like in this case) so that they can take your tuition money and run.

Speaking of money, tomorrow I’ll discuss how the monks engaged in Medicare/insurance fraud in the state of Missouri.

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Sex offending monks have no contact with students … or do they?
Joelle Casteix
November 28, 2015

*** Rev. Richard Eckroth

Timeline  |  Key Documents  |  File 1  |  File 2  |  File 3

*** Rev. Thomas Gillespie

Timeline  |  Key Documents  |  File 1

*** Rev. Francis Hoefgen

Timeline  |  Key Documents  |  File 1

*** Rev. Finian McDonald

Timeline  |  Key Documents  |  File 1  |  File 2

*** Rev. Bruce Wollmering

Timeline  |  Key Documents  |  File 1  |  File 2

Below is a list of men who died while still professed members of Saint John’s Abbey.

Most Recent:

Brother Nicholas Claude Thelen (June 27, 2015)
Father Barnabas Laubach (June 23, 2015)
Father Richard William Eckroth (May 24, 2015)

Monks Who Have Passed (Updated December 14, 2015)

Father Demetrius de Marogna (March 27, 1869)
Brother Placid Brixius (June 28, 1871)
Father Edmund Schwartz (November 17, 1872)
Father Othmar Wirtz (June 8, 1874)
Father Augustine Burns (August 12, 1874)
Father Wolfgang Northman (February 8, 1876)
Father Placid Watry (August 25, 1876)
Father Bonaventure Schloeter (August 3, 1878)
Brother Wolfgang Beck (September 19, 1879)
Brother Leo Martin (October 9, 1880)
Brother Leonard Tiefenthaler (March 5, 1881)
Father Meinrad Leuthard (November 28, 1881)
Father Anschar Frauendorfer (September 6, 1882)
Brother Bernard Spitzer (March 13, 1883)
Father George Scherer (March 14, 1884)
Father Athanasius Weisser (November 5, 1885)
Father Clement Staub (April 23, 1886)
Father Maurus Bader (August 15, 1886)
Father Benedict Haindl (April 11, 1887)
Brother Wolfgang Schumacher (December 27, 1887)
Father Louis Salzeder (April 20, 1888)
Brother David Herold (May 13, 1888)
Father Bartholomew Rajgelj (October 18, 1888)
Brother Justus Zwak (April 12, 1889)
Brother Norbert Wengert (June 20, 1889)
Father Ulric Northman (January 21, 1890)
Father James Bruenner (March 6, 1890)
Father Sebastian Bruner (May 15, 1890)
Father Anselm Bartholmy (July 3, 1890)
Brother Leo Graj (September 10, 1890)
Father Felix Wolke (February 20, 1891)
Father Xavier White (September 26, 1891)
Father Meinrad Rettenmaier (November 1, 1891)
Brother Bernard Knaus (December 13, 1892)
Brother Charles Mickus (May 10, 1893)
Father Severin Gross (December 3, 1893)
Brother Augustine Brutscher (March 5, 1894)
Father Bartholomew Rebholz (March 30, 1894)
Brother Henry Duerr (May 11, 1894)
Brother Prosper Mayer (September 15, 1894)
Abbot Bernard Locnikar (November 7, 1894)
Brother Maur Feldhaus (December 3, 1894)
Brother Gerard Rost (March 13, 1895)
Father Paul Rettenmaier (May 25, 1895)
Bishop Rupert Seidenbusch (June 3, 1895)
Brother Lawrence Schreiner (February 22, 1896)
Brother Thaddaeus Hoermann (May 19, 1897)
Brother Paul Noll (July 13, 1898)
Father Anthony Capser (September 24, 1898)
Brother Adalbert Dilger (August 9, 1899)
Father Lambert Thelen (March 8, 1900)
Father Norbert Hofbauer (July 17, 1901)
Brother Florian Mehren (November 25, 1901)
Brother Alexander Weiss (July 23, 1902)
Father Melchior Bahner (October 4, 1902)
Brother Benedict Kormann (January 8, 1903)
Father Timothy Vaeth (November 4, 1903)
Father Pancras Maehren (March 11, 1904)
Brother Edward Karge (March 14, 1904)
Father Joseph Vill (May 20, 1904)
Father Alphonse Kuisle (October 27, 1904)
Brother Barnabas Musmann (February 1, 1905)
Father Theodore Kevenhoerster (February 26, 1905)
Father Simplicius Wimmer (August 5, 1905)
Brother Aemilian Nees (May 20, 1906)
Brother Philip Killian (September 24, 1906)
Brother Placid Zeiler (December 24, 1906)
Brother Conrad Hundertpfund (January 6, 1907)
Brother Suitbert Feldhoff (September 14, 1907)
Brother Bernard Buss (January 7, 1908)
Father Valentine Stimmler (January 16, 1908)
Abbot Alexius Edelbrock (May 18, 1908)
Father Edward Ginther (December 29, 1908)
Father Jerome Heider (July 25, 1909)
Father Leo Winter (March 25, 1910)
Father Boniface Moll (September 18, 1910)
Father Ignatius Wesseling (November 8, 1910)
Brother Ildephonsus Westphal (December 2, 1910)
Brother Stephen Maubach (May 10, 1911)
Brother Vincent Hoermann (September 25, 1911)
Brother Bartholomew Zeiler (January 4, 1912)
Father Stephen Koefler (March 12, 1913)
Father Rupert Kiefer (May 15, 1914)
Brother Joseph Classen (September 12, 1914)
Father Stanislaus Preiser (March 17, 1915)
Brother Anthony Dillenburg (May 14, 1915)
Brother Lawrence Koch (May 31, 1915)
Father Benno Ferstl (November 21, 1915)
Father Francis Mershman (March 18, 1916)
Brother Andrew Unterburger (November 5, 1916)
Father Ambrose Lethert (November 6, 1917)
Father Jerome Fleissner (September 29, 1918)
Father / Subdeacon Godfrey Gans (November 4, 1918)
Father / Deacon Fabian Ethen (November 7, 1918)
Brother William Baldus (December 15, 1918)
Father Claude Wiemann (January 24, 1919)
Brother Columban Henle (February 18, 1919)
Father Meinulph Stuckenkemper (July 3, 1919)
Father Conrad Glatzmaier (September 1, 1919)
Father Romuald Schmitz (November 12, 1920)
Brother Leonard Schell (November 15, 1920)
Father Cornelius Wittmann (September 22, 1921)
Abbot Peter Engel (November 27, 1921)
Brother Roman Poppler (December 13, 1922)
Father Ludger Ehrens (June 1, 1923)
Father Reinhart Koll (July 27, 1923)
Father Othmar Erren (September 11, 1923)
Father / Deacon Alban Gertken (November 14, 1923)
Brother Isidore Schwind (February 22, 1925)
Father Agatho Gehret (January 10, 1927)
Father Gregory Steil (March 16, 1927)
Father Martin Schmitt (December 17, 1927)
Father Chrysostom Schreiner (January 3, 1928)
Father Boniface Hain (February 15, 1928)
Father Bede Mayenberger (August 1, 1928)
Father Brendan Byrne (August 1, 1928)
Father Otto Weisser (August 22, 1928)
Father Alfred Mayer (May 29, 1929)
Father Aloysius Hermanutz (September 4, 1929)
Father Vincent Schiffrer (October 19, 1929)
Father John Katzner (June 16, 1930)
Father Willibrord Mahowald (April 29, 1931)
Father Alto Walter (May 29, 1931)
Father Leonard Kapsner (July 23, 1931)
Father Athanasius Meyer (August 23, 1931)
Brother Alphonse Prinz (December 8, 1931)
Brother Thomas Adam (May 20, 1933)
Brother Lorenzo Markoe (June 23, 1933)
Father Ildephonsus Molitor (July 31, 1933)
Father James Hansen (July 19, 1934)
Brother Benedict Fekete (September 4, 1934)
Father Peter Wollnik (September 25, 1934)
Father Clement Dimpfl (January 14, 1935)
Brother Kilian Kindel (June 11, 1935)
Father William Eversmann (September 6, 1935)
Father Edmund Basel (January 29, 1936)
Father Andrew Straub (January 31, 1936)
Father Herman Bergmann (July 13, 1936)
Father Benedict Schmit (August 9, 1936)
Father George Scheffold (June 11, 1937)
Father Magnus Hermanutz (September 25, 1937)
Father Henry Borgerding (December 19, 1937)
Brother Othmar Luechinger (February 17, 1938)
Father Sebastian Sis (February 18, 1938)
Father Virgil Michel (November 26, 1938)
Father Paul Neussendorfer (November 22, 1939)
Father Gerard Spielmann (December 20, 1939)
Brother Stanislaus Zaworski (December 24, 1939)
Father Adrian Schmitt (February 23, 1940)
Father Alexius Hoffmann (July 6, 1940)
Brother Bede Seither (July 23, 1940)
Father Fidelis Lucking (September 25, 1940)
Father Augustine Brockmeyer (November 8, 1940)
Father Simon Lampe (November 10, 1940)
Brother / Oblate Herman Eble (May 7, 1941)
Father Stephen Taylor (November 26, 1941)
Father Corbinian Hermanutz (April 22, 1942)
Father Richard Simmer (June 1, 1942)
Father Landolin Engel (August 22, 1942)
Father Kilian Heid (June 28, 1943)
Father Placid Wingerter (August 20, 1943)
Brother Andrew Gruidl (September 4, 1943)
Father Eugene Woerdehoff (December 20, 1943)
Father Adolph Dingmann (January 6, 1944)
Father Florian Locnikar (January 10, 1944)
Brother Clement Frischauf (March 17, 1944)
Brother Rupert Adam (September 8, 1944)
Father Arnold Mondloch (November 14, 1944)
Father Roland Kapsner (December 21, 1944)
Father Felix Nelles (March 9, 1945)
Father Robert Wewers (April 23, 1945)
Brother Michael Hurth (October 4, 1945)
Father Aidan Germain (April 14, 1946)
Father Charles Cannon (April 25, 1946)
Father Gilbert Winkelmann (January 23, 1947)
Father Maurus Ferdinand (April 15, 1947)
Brother Placid Tlusty (June 26, 1947)
Father Patrick-Joseph Freeman (July 29, 1947)
Father Ansgar Osendorf (January 5, 1948)
Father Edwin Sieben (May 20, 1948)
Father Daniel Bangart (October 12, 1948)
Father Wilfrid Partika (October 25, 1948)
Father Hugo Tell (December 19, 1948)
Brother Ambrose Mader (February 22, 1949)
Brother Innocent Kratz (April 14, 1949)
Father Francis Bernick (July 3, 1949)
Bishop John Bernard Kevenhoerster (December 9, 1949)
Father Luke Fink (January 8, 1950)
Brother Maurus Held (January 19, 1950)
Father Gabriel Roerig (August 30, 1950)
Abbot Alcuin Deutsch (May 12, 1951)
Father Isidore Siegler (September 1, 1951)
Father Urban Weckwerth (September 3, 1951)
Father Xavier Kapsner (October 25, 1951)
Father Meinrad Seifermann (September 26, 1952)
Father Timothy Majerus (November 15, 1952)
Brother Anselm Schlosser (November 23, 1952)
Father Eugene Heinen (March 4, 1953)
Father Anselm Ortmann (March 13, 1953)
Father Innocent Gertken (July 17, 1953)
Father Hyacinth Cismowski (July 26, 1953)
Father Paulin Wiesner (April 20, 1954)
Father Jerome Simmer (June 29, 1954)
Father Bonaventure Hansen (December 9, 1954)
Father Humphrey Zdechlik (January 15, 1955)
Brother Mark Christl (June 21, 1955)
Father Leander Roerig (September 15, 1955)
Father Anthony Ronellenfitsch (November 5, 1955)
Father Wemer Schneppenheim (April 15, 1956)
Father Thomas Borgerding (November 27, 1956)
Father Philip Bahner (March 10, 1957)
Father Leo Hoppe (September 18, 1957)
Father Norbert Gertken (December 1, 1957)
Father Brian Jerabek (September 4, 1958)
Father Roman Homar (March 6, 1959)
Brother Conrad Zimmermann (February 16, 1960)
Father Bruno Schmid (May 27, 1960)
Father Louis Traufler (October 6, 1960)
Father Prosper Meyer (March 17, 1961)
Father Adelard Thuente (April 15, 1962)
Father Cyril Ortmann (May 5, 1962)
Father Lambert Weckwerth (August 19, 1962)
Father Polycarp Hansen (October 13, 1962)
Father Bernardo Martinez (February 2, 1963)
Father Raymond Basel (May 14, 1963)
Father Joseph Kreuter (July 14, 1963)
Father Pius Meinz (October 24, 1963)
Father Frederic Frey (December 25, 1963)
Father Herbert Buerschinger (April 21, 1964)
Father Edward Botzet (May 27, 1964)
Father Emile Butruille (January 19, 1965)
Brother / Oblate Jude Kish (February 13, 1965)
Father Adalbert Unruhe (February 26, 1965)
Brother / Oblate Aloysius Davis (February 22, 1966)
Father Roderic Albers (March 22, 1966)
Father Clarus Graves (April 16, 1966)
Brother Kevin Brush (March 13, 1967)
Father Odilo Kohler (November 10, 1967)
Father Columban Kremer (January 19, 1969)
Father Maurice Hurrle (November 9, 1969)
Father Marcellus Leisen (November 17, 1969)
Brother Leo Bettendorf (February 13, 1970)
Father Fidelis Collentine (May 13, 1970)
Father Walter Reger (January 18, 1971)
Father Donald McGinnis (January 27, 1971)
Father Hildebrand Eickhoff (August 18, 1971)
Father Method Porwoll (September 11, 1971)
Father Albert Heuring (November 2, 1971)
Father Ambrose Wittmann (January 4, 1972)
Brother Augustine Keel (February 17, 1972)
Brother / Oblate Bonaventure Watson (June 2, 1972)
Father Osmund Jacobs (June 12, 1972)
Father Celestine Kapsner (January 18, 1973)
Father Victor Ronellenfitsch (June 10, 1973)
Father Arthur Danzl (August 17, 1973)
Father Alphonse Sausen (December 8, 1973)
Father Conrad Diekmann (April 4, 1974)
Brother James Linn (May 19, 1974)
Brother Paul Crone (July 22, 1974)
Father Jerome Docherty (June 2, 1975)
Father Ulric Beste (January 29, 1976)
Father Elmer Eisenschenk (February 20, 1976)
Father Oswald Johannes (June 30, 1976)
Father Gerald McMahon (December 13, 1976)
Father Wendelin Luetmer (January 5, 1977)
Father Rembert Bularzik (January 21, 1977)
Father Theodore Krebsbach (May 18, 1977)
Father Christopher Bayer (March 29, 1978)
Father Sylvester Harter (May 30, 1978)
Father Malachy Murphy (July 4, 1978)
Father Dominic Keller (November 26, 1978)
Father Nicholas Kremer (December 23, 1978)
Brother Philip Heitkemper (February 11, 1979)
Father Matthew Kiess (August 21, 1979)
Father Alan Steichen (November 26, 1979)
Father Othmar Hohmann (January 24, 1980)
Father Cornelius Osendorf (March 6, 1980)
Brother / Oblate James Hugues (March 26, 1980)
Father Basil Stegmann (February 18, 1981)
Father Linus Schieffer (July 26, 1981)
Brother Ansgar Niess (September 2, 1981)
Father Marcian Peters (September 7, 1981)
Father Valerian Thelen (October 8, 1981)
Father Peter St. Hilaire (October 26, 1981)
Father Edgar Kees (November 4, 1981)
Father Augustin Cornides (June 16, 1982)
Father Cloud Meinberg (July 7, 1982)
Father Pirmin Wendt (August 15, 1982)
Father Joachim Watrin (January 31, 1983)
Father Walbert Kalinowski (February 1, 1983)
Father Edmund Hall (February 22, 1983)
Father Hildebrand Yaiser (April 15, 1983)
Father Damian Baker (April 22, 1983)
Father Justin Luetmer (July 13, 1983)
Father Robert Blumeyer (October 5, 1983)
Brother Bernard Lutgen (April 18, 1984)
Father Lawrence Schmidt (June 1, 1984)
Father Bede Michel (June 16, 1984)
Father Denis Parnell (September 4, 1984)
Bishop Paul Leonard Hagarty (September 22, 1984)
Father Roland Behrendt (October 30, 1984)
Father Joseph Schmerbach (November 2, 1984)
Father Rupert Schreifels (November 12, 1984)
Father Constantine Thelen (December 24, 1984)
Father Harold Fuchs (February 25, 1985)
Father Egbert Goeb (February 27, 1985)
Father Patrick Okada (April 2, 1985)
Father Jeremy Murphy (June 8, 1985)
Father Gerald Patnode (June 18, 1985)
Father Philibert Harrer (July 23, 1985)
Brother Charles Kirchner (October 14, 1985)
Father Benito Soh (October 30, 1985)
Brother Victor McMahon (November 17, 1985)
Father Dunstan Tucker (December 1, 1985)
Father Roger Schoenbechler (February 4, 1986)
Father Lancelot Atsch (February 14, 1986)
Brother Dunstan Nordick (August 6, 1986)
Father Benno Watrin (September 20, 1986)
Father Clement Burns (November 3, 1986)
Brother Gabriel Bieniek (January 2, 1987)
Father Otto Weber (July 12, 1987)
Father Terence Carroll (September 1, 1987)
Father Aldrich Huhne (December 8, 1987)
Father Ivan Havener (April 24, 1988)
Father Michael Blecker (May 12, 1988)
Father Brendan Forsyth (June 1, 1988)
Father Bertram Niggemann (January 12, 1989)
Father Urban Steiner (July 26, 1989)
Father Alfred Deutsch (September 30, 1989)
Father Boniface Axtman (January 6, 1990)
Father Herman Wind (April 18, 1990)
Father Demetrius Hagmann (July 30, 1990)
Brother Anthony Lucking (October 3, 1990)
Brother Kevin Duffy (January 24, 1991)
Brother Paul Lauer (July 24, 1991)
Father Arno Gustin (August 3, 1991)
Father Oliver Kapsner (August 8, 1991)
Brother Edward Zwak (August 26, 1991)
Father Aidan McCall (January 7, 1992)
Father Ernest Kilzer (October 11, 1992)
Father Hubert Dahlheimer (December 5, 1992)
Father Martin Schirber (January 24, 1993)
Father Michael Marx (May 5, 1993)
Father Giles Nathe (May 8, 1993)
Father Fabian Wegleitner (July 13, 1993)
Father Casper Keogh (July 31, 1993)
Father Ignatius Candrian (August 28, 1993)
Brother Louis Blenkner (October 3, 1993)
Father Raphael Haller (December 7, 1993)
Father Colman Barry (January 7, 1994)
Father Engelbert Dufner (November 27, 1994)
Brother Hubert Schneider (February 2, 1995)
Brother Barry Gearman (March 4, 1995)
Brother Gerard Wojchowski (May 21, 1995)
Abbot Primate Jerome Theisen (September 11, 1995)
Father Romuald Bloms (December 2, 1995)
Father Elias Achatz (December 4, 1995)
Father Ferdinand Schreifels (January 29, 1996)
Father Alban Fruth (March 15, 1996)
Abbot Baldwin Dworschak (June 16, 1996)
Father Severin Lauer (July 11, 1996)
Brother Sean Sullivan (August 14, 1996)
Father Cassian Osendorf (October 19, 1996)
Father Vitus Bucher (December 5, 1996)
Brother Stephen Thell (December 31, 1996)
Brother Henry Neely (April 17, 1997)
Father Adrian Foxxe (May 12, 1997)
Father Emmanuel Kelsch (October 16, 1997)
Father Jude Koll (October 19, 1997)
Father Julius Muggli (May 20, 1998)
Father James Studer (July 14, 1998)
Father Paschal Botz (November 12, 1998)
Father Jordan Stovik (March 28, 1999)
Father Peregrin Berres (April 16, 1999)
Father Emeric Lawrence (May 17, 1999)
Father Germain Loeber (July 28, 1999)
Father Arnold Dittberner (August 9, 1999)
Father Sebastian Schramel (December 12, 1999)
Father Antony Hellenberg (January 7, 2000)
Father Gerard Farrell (January 9, 2000)
Father Rudolph Baumberger (February 17, 2000)
Father William Heidt (March 28, 2000)
Father Paul Schwietz (May 4, 2000)
Father Andrew Winczewski (June 30, 2000)
Father Benjamin Stein (November 27, 2000)
Brother Elmer Cichy (January 4, 2001)
Father Benedict Nordick (April 13, 2001)
Father Athanase Fuchs (August 14, 2001)
Father Gall Fell (October 19, 2001)
Father Aloysius Michels (February 2, 2002)
Father Godfrey Diekmann (February 22, 2002)
Father Cyprian Seitz (April 7, 2002)
Father Stephen Wagman (June 20, 2002)
Father Vernon Miller (October 4, 2002)
Father Berthold Ricker (November 17, 2002)
Father Nicholas Doub (December 3, 2002)
Brother John Anderl (January 1, 2003)
Father Omer Maus (March 14, 2003)
Father Gervase Soukup (March 16, 2003)
Father Aelred Tegels (March 17, 2003)
Brother Leonard Chmelik (April 8, 2003)
Father Gregory Soukup (August 17, 2003)
Father Gregory Soukup (August 18, 2003)
Father Virgil O’Neill (December 30, 2003)
Father Cosmas Dahlheimer (February 21, 2004)
Brother / Oblate Frank Kacmarcik (February 22, 2004)
Father Alto Butkowski (February 28, 2004)
Abbot John Eidenschink (June 19, 2004)
Father Neal Lawrence (November 2, 2004)
Father Gunther Rolfson (December 1, 2004)
Father Burkhard Arnheiter (January 2, 2005)
Brother Patrick Sullivan (January 9, 2005)
Father Henry Anderl (April 1, 2005)
Father Melchior Freund (April 10, 2005)
Father Mark Schneider (June 4, 2005)
Father Gregory Sebastian (July 3, 2005)
Father Silvan Bromemshenkel (July 8, 2005)
Father Landelin Robling (July 15, 2005)
Father Bartholomew Sayles (September 17, 2006)
Brother Andre Bennet (January 15, 2007)
Brother Michael Laux (February 9, 2007)
Brother Placid Stuckenschneider (February 24, 2007)
Father Vincent Tegeder (April 4, 2007)
Brother Linus Ascheman (June 27, 2007)
Father Angelo Zankl (July 12, 2007)
Father Philip Kaufman (January 8, 2008)
Brother Dietrich Reinhart (December 29, 2008)
Father Bruce Wollmering (February 4, 2009)
Father Simon Bischof (February 23, 2009)
Brother William Borgerding (April 11, 2009)
Father James Tingerthal (July 4, 2009)
Brother Francis Peters (September 17, 2009)
Father Mathias Spier (January 18, 2010)
Father Florian Muggli (January 26, 2010)
Father Paul Marx (March 20, 2010)
Father Burton Bloms (May 3, 2010)
Father Stanley Roche (May 8, 2010)
Father Edwin Stueber (June 27, 2010)
Abbot Timothy Kelly (October 7, 2010)
Brother Samuel Lickteig (April 24, 2011)
Father Arnold Weber (9 February, 2012)
Father John Patrick McDarby (March 13, 2012)
Father Hugh Witzmann (March 17, 2012)
Father Charles Henry (June 17, 2012)
Father Raymond Pedrizetti (September 3, 2012)
Father John Kulas (October 14, 2012)
Brother Urban Pieper (November 1, 2012)
Father Luke Steiner, OSB (January 18, 2013)
Brother Gregory Eibensteiner (April 11, 2013)
Father Kevin Seasoltz (April 27, 2013)
Father George Wolf (May 20, 2013)
Brother George Primus (June 24, 2013)
Father Alexander Andrews (July 31, 2013)
Brother Raphael Olson (August 29, 2013)
Father Hidenari Peter Kawamura (November 6, 2013)
Father Daniel Durken (March 29, 2014)
Father Richard William Eckroth (May 24, 2015)
Father Barnabas Laubach (June 23, 2015)
Brother Nicholas Claude Thelen (June 27, 2015)

(MPR) It’s been a year since Ben Spanier took his life. His parents say his problems began 20 years earlier, when he was a student at St. John’s Prep in Collegeville. They say their son wasn’t the same after he began spending time with the Rev. Tom Andert, a prominent priest who was placed on leave earlier this year for a separate allegation of sexual misconduct.

The Spaniers say they’re coming forward now because they want the culture at St. John’s to change. Ben Spanier had attempted suicide before. His father, Eric, will never forget picking up the phone that night in 1994. On the other end of the line was the Rev. Tom Andert, the head of the boarding school at St. John’s, where Ben was a junior.

“I answered the phone,” Eric Spanier said. “He was calling from the emergency room in the hospital, so it was a shock.”

He said he was relieved the priest was there to care for his son.

“I was extremely grateful,” he said. “I mean, he was there and he was taking my place, and I was in Colorado. He was in Minnesota, at his bedside. So I was very appreciative for him being there, I expressed that. We really didn’t have any reason to suspect there was a problem with Ben’s relationship with the headmaster.”

Ben’s parents weren’t sure at the time why he had tried to kill himself. Privately, though, as Ben would later tell his parents and others, he struggled with questions about his sexual identity. He worried his family would be embarrassed if they found out he was gay.

At the time, all his parents knew was that Ben seemed anxious and withdrawn. If anything, they welcomed some additional help and attention from a priest. Especially a priest of St. John’s Abbey. The Spaniers had been connected to the abbey near St. Cloud, Minn., for generations.

“Culturally and socially and just environmentally, St. John’s was a big part of our lives,” Eric Spanier said.

Ben’s grandfather had worked at the abbey for nearly 20 years. Ben’s father, Eric, had gone to the abbey’s prep school and the university.

The family trusted St. John’s and Rev. Andert, Eric said.

In the months following Ben’s suicide attempt, the Spaniers became such good friends with Andert that they invited him along on a family whitewater rafting vacation.

“You know, hindsight is 20/20, I guess,” said Eric.

Ben’s parents stayed in one hotel room. Ben and Andert stayed in another.

One night, Ben’s parents woke up around 1 or 2 in the morning to the sound of their son beating on the door and yelling.

“Ben was in absolute hysterics,” Eric said.

“He was afraid,” said Ben’s mother, Margaret. “He was, he could hardly, he couldn’t talk.”

“He ran into the room and jumped straight into the bed and he stayed in that bed between Margee and I for the rest of the night,” Eric recalled. He described his son as “almost speechless. He was in shock.” Ben wouldn’t say what was wrong. The next day, his father caught him arguing with Andert.

“It’s difficult to live with that, at this point,” Eric said. “But I took Ben aside and said, ‘Listen, Ben, you don’t treat a priest that way. You have to treat them with some respect. He’s your headmaster, and he’s a priest, and he’s a family friend, and don’t do that.’ So I was pretty hard on Ben.”

To this day, Ben’s parents don’t know what happened in the hotel room 21 years ago.

Andert describes the trip differently. He declined to be interviewed, but in a written statement to MPR News sent via his attorney, Andert said nothing happened in that room “beyond my caressing Ben’s forehead.”

Andert, now 68, said he felt nervous about going whitewater rafting and that he “probably became a pest to Ben with my anxious chatter.” He said Ben “asked if I minded if he went to sleep in his parents’ room, and I responded, ‘Of course not.’ There is nothing more to the story than that.”

That explanation is tough for Ben’s mother Margaret to hear. “You don’t cry because somebody is afraid to go whitewater rafting,” she said.

At the time, though, Ben wouldn’t say what was wrong.

The Spaniers had no way of knowing, back then, that St. John’s Abbey was home to several monks who had been accused of sexually abusing children. In the years since, the abbey has faced lawsuits from abuse survivors who accused the abbey of failing to protect them from predatory priests. In 2013, amid the clergy sex abuse scandal in the Twin Cities, St. John’s Abbey released a list of 18 monks it said “likely have offended against minors.”

That fall, in 1994, Ben’s parents received another upsetting phone call. Ben was in his senior year at St. John’s. The phone call this time was from a couple who were close family friends.

They urged the Spaniers to get to St. Cloud right away. Something was wrong with Ben.

“He could hardly talk, and he was so ashamed,” Margaret said.

According to Margaret, Ben told his parents that Andert had sometimes given him alcohol. He also said he was uncomfortable with Andert’s affection.

Eric said Ben was reluctant to discuss details about time he spent with the priest.

“It wasn’t what he said,” Eric said. “It’s what he avoided. He just wouldn’t address it. It’s like he was embarrassed … It was an environment where you didn’t challenge or question or even think of issues of, bad issues that the clergy was engaged in.”

The Spaniers say they reported what Ben had told them to the head of St. John’s Abbey at the time. They were surprised to find Abbot Timothy Kelly didn’t seem all that concerned.

“We stand to leave,” Eric recalled, “and the abbot pats Margee on the head and makes a comment to her that, ‘Moms of students in this situation typically overreact — not to feel bad, you’re like all the other moms, you overreact.'”

An abbey spokesperson later said the abbey investigated the family’s complaint and found “no credible charges of sexual abuse.” The spokesperson said Ben also met privately with Kelly at the time and that the teenager denied any sexual misconduct had taken place.

Ben never told his parents what happened in that meeting with Kelly. The abbot died in 2010. Years later, in correspondence with a friend, Ben mentioned the meeting and said he worried he’d ruined Andert’s life.

Andert admits he did buy wine for Ben when they were at dinner. And he says he wrote letters to Ben as a teenager that could be misinterpreted. In those letters, obtained by MPR News, Andert told Ben he loved him and wished he could be his dad. He also asked the teenager to send a picture of himself.

Andert went on to become one of the top officials at St. John’s Abbey. He was promoted to serve as head of the abbey’s monastery. Meanwhile, Ben Spanier struggled.

When Ben was in his 20s, another priest from St. John’s reached out to help. The Rev. Brennan Maiers met with Ben and arranged for him to receive therapy, paid for by the abbey.

Maiers also sent Ben emails, including one in 2007 that included a link to a music video on YouTube. The song was about a boy falling in love with another boy.

“I love a boy named Jesse, but Jesse doesn’t love me back,” the lyrics went. “He says he has a girl in Chelsea he wants so much.”

It was, the priest told Ben in the email, a “very haunting song about two young men who can’t quite speak or express their love.”

Maiers had problems of his own. His name was later included on a list released by St. John’s Abbey of monks who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

As Ben grew older, his mental health worsened. Although he went on to college and grad school, his parents say his anxiety made it hard for him to hold down jobs.

A few people who heard pieces of Ben’s story urged him to sue the abbey, but Ben refused, telling them he didn’t want to embarrass the school or his family. In his 30s, Ben moved back in with his parents, and received treatment for his anxiety. But it wasn’t enough.

In December 2014, Ben Spanier killed himself in his bedroom. He was 38. He left behind a message.

“Ben’s last words were written on a board, and it can be erased, and it slowly, slowly will come away, I’m sure,” Margaret Spanier said. “But he said, ‘Dear God please protect me and keep me safe.’ Those were his last words.”

She said it’s hard to know how big a role her son’s experiences at St. John’s played in his mental health problems. She and her husband do believe that the same sense of loyalty that makes St. John’s strong also makes it hard for students to come forward about misconduct and abuse. And they believe that culture needs to change so others don’t experience pain like theirs.

Margaret said she and her husband “cry every day and think of the people who have never, ever been able to talk about it, their experiences. What a sad, sad situation.”

The Spaniers said they have no plan to sue the school. What they want is for the head of St. John’s Abbey — Abbot John Klassen — to open up to the community about the concerns and allegations involving Andert and other priests.

Andert has been on leave since August because of a separate allegation of sexual misconduct involving a former student at St. John’s Prep. An abbey spokesperson said the investigation of that complaint continues.

Abbot Klassen declined to be interviewed for this story, saying through the spokesperson it wouldn’t be appropriate.

END

View the Entire Article at MPR… Here

A year after son’s suicide, parents seek change at St. John’s
Madeleine Baran
Minnesota Public Radio
Dec 18, 2015
A year after son’s suicide, parents seek change at St. John’s

The following statement from Saint John’s Abbey is a response to a news story (“A year after son’s suicide, parents seek change at St. John’s”) published by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) on December 18, 2015.

The MPR story is Here.  Many of the abbey’s statements are on their web site… Here.

Statement regarding MPR News Story, 18 December 2015

Saint John’s Abbey extends its deepest sympathies to the Spanier family and holds them in our prayers as they approach the first anniversary of the death of their son Ben.

Unfortunately, the Spaniers have come to believe a story based on selective reading of circumstantial evidence, but one that is not supported by the body of documented evidence. While we understand the grief of a family as they search to explain the loss of their son, we are extremely disappointed that Minnesota Public Radio chose to ignore the volume of evidence and documents sent to the reporter that clearly rebut the thesis of the story being broadcast.

Most significantly, the Spaniers were accorded every opportunity to meet with Abbot Timothy Kelly in the 1990s and discuss their allegations. When asked directly by Abbot Kelly whether there was concern of sexual abuse, Ben Spanier and his parents stated unequivocally that no inappropriate sexual behavior was involved. In fact, documented evidence supports that Father Andert was a mentor to Ben and a personal friend to Ben’s family. That was the extent of the association.

As recently as this fall, Abbot John Klassen reached out to the Spaniers to invite them to share their concerns. Both parties agreed that it would be best to talk about the concerns face-to-face, but unfortunately, the right opportunity did not present itself.

The MPR story seems to be based on the request that Saint John’s Abbey “open up to the community about the concerns and allegations involving Andert and other priests,” as the story concludes.

Yet, that is exactly what the Abbey has done for the past 15 years or more and it is what MPR chose to ignore in its reporting. The facts are clear:

On multiple occasions, we have published lists of monks against whom there are credible allegations of sexual abuse involving minors. Most recently, we provided the Twin Cities law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates with the complete files of monks against whom there are credible allegations and are cooperating in their complete disclosure, a process that already has started.

There is no evidence—and a specific denial from the alleged victim, Ben Spanier—that Father Andert’s interaction with Ben was sexually abusive in any way. As noted above, Father Andert had a mentoring relationship with Ben and that association ended when Ben left school. There was no further contact beyond an incidental meeting at a funeral in the more than 20 years after Ben left the school.

Most important, there have been no incidents of sexual abuse of a minor involving a monk of Saint John’s in more than 20 years. This is the result of specific and aggressive actions, including the following:

We have implemented a rigorous process to address and investigate allegations of abuse, retaining independent investigators to examine claims and make reports to an external board for review. In addition, Saint John’s has cooperated fully with investigations and processes of law enforcement.

Those monks who have offended live under restrictive safety plans. Their actions are limited and they are supervised.

Saint John’s has enhanced the screening of men seeking to enter the monastery. Thorough assessments are part of a rigorous process of identifying appropriate candidates. Today, Saint John’s Abbey is a community of monks, including many young men, who live lives of service and leadership, creating a future for the monastery as bright as it ever has been.

All of this information was made available in detail and substantiated with documents several months ago. For all of the important reporting Madeleine Baran has done on clergy abuse, this is an instance where she and MPR have failed their audience and harmed the reputation of the Abbey and everyone associated with Saint John’s. MPR owes an apology for this story.

Statement Regarding MPR News Story, 18 December 2015
Saint John’s Abbey
18 December 2015

(WJON) ST. CLOUD — A woman alleging she was abused by a Catholic priest at the Church of St. Joseph in the early 1960’s has filed a lawsuit. Jane Doe 115 has filed suit against the St. Cloud Diocese, Order of St. Benedict and Church of St. Joseph.

The woman is claiming multiple incidents of abuse at the hands of the late Father Othmar Hohmann between 1961-1966 when she was 11-16 years-old.
Attorney Mike Bryant says the lawsuit is to provide financial relief to the victim, get all of the files on accused priests released and to encourage other victims to come forward.

Father Hohmann worked at churches in Stearns County, Crookston and Duluth. He died in 1980.

The window for victims to come forward as part of the Child Victims’ Act closes in May.

Read Entire Article… Here

Former St. Joseph Priest Accused of Sex Abuse in New Lawsuit
Lee Voss – WJON
January 13, 2016

Abbey’s Statement regarding lawsuit related to Othmar Hohmann

The entire community of Saint John’s Abbey grieves the pain and suffering of those who have been harmed by abuse and those whose lives have been diminished by the pain they have suffered. We are committed to doing all we can to bring healing and peace to the survivors. We look forward to hearing this survivor’s story and to continuing our initiatives to hold offending monks accountable.

Fulfilling our commitment to survivors includes our decision last year to voluntarily release comprehensive work, medical and personal files of the monks who are likely to have offended. The excerpts from the files of Fr. Othmar Hohmann, OSB, released at today’s news conference are part of the thorough personal and work histories the abbey voluntarily gave to the law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates in July 2015.

The files are wide in their scope, providing comprehensive disclosure of personal and work information regarding these monks. However, they are not likely to include details of specific incidents that were not reported to the abbey, law enforcement agencies or others.

Today’s allegations involving Othmar Hohmann are a case in point. This lawsuit is the first time the claimant’s allegations have been communicated to us. The abbey still has not been provided any substantive information about the abuse alleged to have occurred a half century or more ago. Complicating the challenge is that Othmar Hohmann has been dead for 35 years.

Learning of this new lawsuit recommits us to the full and complete public release of the files of all 18 monks who are likely to have offended. We strongly hope that the healing of survivors will be supported with the full release of the files and we are taking steps to achieve that goal.

Read this and other Abbey statements… Here

COLLEGEVILLE (AP) – St. John’s Abbey has released personnel files of 18 monks it says were credibly accused of sexually abusing minors.

The release Tuesday is part of St. John’s settlement last spring with a St. Paul man who says he was abused by a monk when he was a 14-year-old prep school student in 1977.

The files include the monks’ personal correspondence, psychological evaluations and work assignments. Abbot John Klassen says the release is the latest step toward transparency and credibility with those who have been harmed.

The settlement with St. John’s forced it to release the internal files of monks accused of sexually abusing minors.

The abbey is part of a 2,700-acre property in Collegeville that includes St. John’s University and St. John’s Preparatory School.

Read Entire Article… Here

St. John’s Abbey Releases Monks’ Files In Abuse Settlement
WJON
January 19, 2016

(MPR) As part of a lawsuit settlement, St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., on Tuesday released the personnel files of 18 monks it says were credibly accused of sexually abusing minors.

St. John’s settled the lawsuit last spring with Troy Bramlage, a St. Cloud man who says he was abused by a monk when he was a 14-year-old prep school student in 1977.

The abbey is part of a sprawling 2,700-acre property in Collegeville that includes St. John’s University and St. John’s Preparatory School.

The files include everything from monks’ personal correspondence, to work assignments and psychological evaluations.

But Bramlage said Abbot John Klassen is holding back information about other alleged perpetrators.

“The only reason he’s turning over these files is because we forced him to as part of the lawsuit,” Bramlage said. “There are still more files that need to come out.”

Klassen said the move is the abbey’s latest step in a three-decades long reckoning with such allegations.

“We see this as not an endpoint, but in fact as part of a process that we’re moving toward transparency and, ultimately, real credibility with our survivors,” he said.

He said the last known incident of abuse at the prep school was in 1986.

Read entire article… Here

MPR
Matt Sepic
January 19, 2016

Earlier today, Saint John’s Abbey released the files of eighteen monk offenders.

Left-click on a file name to open a PDF version of each file.

Right-click on a file name to download a copy of the PDF to your desktop.

Bennett-Andre PDF File: Pages 001-438 (10.1 Mb)
Bennett-Andre – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Bik-Michael PDF File: Pages 001-332 (14.7 Mb)
Bik-Michael – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Blumeyer-Robert PDF File: Pages 001-274 (9.1 Mb)
Blumeyer-Robert – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Dahlheimer-Cosmas PDF File: Pages 001-527 (20.5 Mb)
Dahlheimer-Cosmas – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Eckroth-Richard PDF File: Pages 001-871 (35.7 Mb)
Eckroth-Richard – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Gillespie-Thomas PDF File: Pages 001-359 (10.1 Mb)
Gillespie-Thomas – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Hoefgen-Fran PDF File: Pages 001-461 (18.5 Mb)
Hoefgen-Fran – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Hohmann-Othmar PDF File: Pages 0001-1254 (74.7 Mb)
Hohmann-Othmar – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Keller-Dominic PDF File: Pages 001-153 (9.5 Mb)
Keller-Dominic – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Kelly-John PDF File: Pages 001-203 (9.2 Mb)
Kelly-John – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Maiers-Brennan PDF File: Pages 001-982 (39.5 Mb)
Maiers-Brennan – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

McDonald-Finian PDF File: Pages 001-890 (47.0 Mb)
McDonald-Finian – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Moorse-Dunstan PDF File: Pages 0001-1116 (37.5 Mb)
Moorse-Dunstan – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Phillips-Jim File: Pages 001-386 (10.6 Mb)
Phillips-Jim – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Schulte-Francisco PDF File: Pages 001-992 (39.5 Mb)
Schulte-Francisco – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Tarlton_Allen PDF File: 684_Pages (46.7 Mb)
Tarlton_Allen – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Wendt_Pirmin PDF File: Pages 001-277 (11.6 Mb)
Wendt_Pirmin – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

Wollmering_Bruce PDF File: Pages 001-562 (17.1 Mb)
Wollmering_Bruce – Abbey’s Assignment Summary (0.4 Mb)

(Star Tribune) St. John’s Abbey released its personnel files on 18 monks credibly accused of sexually abusing minors on Tuesday, but the files already were being labeled incomplete by victims’ advocates.

It marks the first time the abbey, long the subject of sex abuse allegations, has made its files public. The release was the result of a legal settlement reached by a St. Cloud man who said he was sexually abused by a monk as a 14-year-old prep school student in 1977.

The monks worked as teachers, counselors, parish priests and chaplains across Minnesota and beyond. The files reveal how they were transferred to other religious work even as the abbey was aware of sexual improprieties.

“The files share heartbreaking and tragic details of suffering inflicted on survivors of misconduct,” said Abbot John Klassen. “We in the monastic community grieve the pain and suffering of those who have been harmed.”

But Patrick Marker, a former St. John’s Preparatory student who has long run a website focusing on sexual misconduct at the abbey, said the list is incomplete.

“There are several monks who have been credibly accused of abuse who are not on this list,” said Marker, who also said that certain documents appear to be missing from the files.

The files were released as part of the abbey’s settlement with Troy Bramlage, of St. Cloud.

“It is alarming that so many of these credibly accused monks were allowed to work at other parishes, dioceses and communities after St. John’s Abbey received abuse reports,” said Mike Finnegan is an attorney at the St. Paul law firm of Jeff Anderson, which represented Bramlage. “Parishioners, parents, kids and communities were not warned about the monks’ abusive past.”

The list of monks and their files have been posted at: mntransparencyinitiative.com.

View the entire article and comments… Here

In a landmark move, St. John’s Abbey releases files on child-abusing monks
Jean Hopfensperger
Star Tribune
January 19, 2016

On Sunday, January 24, 2016, Father Dan Ward gave a presentation (via Skype) to an audience of 50-75 people on the campus of Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota.

One of Father Ward’s alleged victims attended. Father Ward admitted to the audience that he met with the alleged victim in the vice-president’s office [at the College St. Benedict] years ago, but he didn’t want to have a discussion about something that “was settled.”

Note: In October of 2012, Saint John’s Abbey confirmed that Father Dan Ward was under investigation for sexual misconduct. The public has yet to learn the results of that investigation, though Father Ward resigned from as Executive Director of the RCRI in May of 2013. Father Ward taught at St. John’s Prep School and St. John’s University.

Abbot John Klassen hosted the event which was advertised in the January 15, 2016 edition of The Visitor, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Saint Cloud, Minnesota.

Father Ward spoke for approximately 40 minutes.

After the presentation, Father Ward took questions.

The first person to the microphone asked if Father Ward had ever crossed student-teacher boundary lines with any students from St. John’s Prep School or St. John’s University, or with any novice monks.

Father Ward’s answer: “No”

She also asked about the Mock Trial program and Joshua Guimond.

Father Dan Ward responded immediately that he was in the Bahamas when Guimond was at St. John’s.

While Abbot Klassen allowed Father Ward to answer questions about allegations of sexual misconduct (of which there are many) Abbot Klassen took the microphone after Joshua Guimond’s name come up.

The third person to the microphone was one of Father Dan Ward’s alleged victims.  Her allegations are available in a redacted notarized pdf document on this web site.

Father Ward had earlier stated that he had never crossed any boundaries, so it came as a shock to some in the room that Father Ward remembered his alleged victim’s name but recalled for the audience a meeting with his alleged victim in the vice-president’s office at St. Ben’s where the matted was “settled.” Father Ward did, however, dispute that he ever said, “I ask for forgiveness” from the woman during the meeting.

She offered Father Ward an opportunity to say he was sorry. He did not accept her offer.

A transcript of the exchanges is available below.

******** TRANSCRIBED ********

0:00 Audio/Video Stamp

Father Dan Ward: So I’d like to leave you with these two quotes: One from Ryan Stevenson, again, “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done,” and we must apply that to each person however we judge them as we shouldn’t judge them. And Pope Francis says, “Mercy is the force that reawakens us to new life and instills in us the courage to look to the future with hope.” Mercy, acceptance, and forgiveness of persons, in church law, in church ministry, is about giving hope for people on the journey of life.”

So thank you.

0:44

0:58

John Klassen: Dan, thank you so much for a wonderful, thought-provoking presentation that I think helps all of us understand the shift we’re seeing in Pope Francis. So, we’re going to open this directly up into questions here and observations and requests for clarification. So, please, the floor is open uh if you’d come up and use the mic, that would be very, very helpful.

1:41

*** Female Questioner #1 ***

Female Q1: Thank you for taking my questions…

Ward: Can you just speak up a little closer to the mic?

Female Q1: Sure. Sorry about that.

Klassen: Testing, One, Two

Female Q1: Can you please explain further about the canon and civil laws regarding student-teacher boundaries and have you ever crossed these lines with any Prep students, university students or novice monks.

Ward: I didn’t hear your… it was…

Female Q1: Please explain further between the canon and civil laws regarding student-teacher boundaries and have you ever crossed these lines with any Prep, university students or novice monks.

Ward: Uh, the last part of the question is no, uh, I don’t know the difference with, uh, civil and canon law because, um, both of them, there’s a difference between boundary issues, and uh, criminal, what you want to call, criminal issues. Boundary issues are dealing with social/psychological relationships and criminal, criminal law is dealing with specific acts but I don’t understand all of the question.

3:10

Female Q1: OK, the like the student teacher boundaries of inappropriate relationships… I do have three affidavits of victims from you and that have said that you were sexually inappropriate with them in the past and I would like to know if you have a response for that.

Ward: Since I don’t know, since I don’t know what they are, but I have not done that… so.

Female Q1: OK. Sir. Do you teach political science and have you even been involved with mock trial?

Ward: Who?

Female Q1: Mock Trial

Ward: Never heard of the person.

Female Q1: No, Mock trial, is where lawyers who are studying to be lawyers argue and have…

Ward: Oh, Mock trial

Female Q1: Mock trial

Ward: OK

Female Q1: So you have been involved with mock trial?

Ward: Yeah, Joe Wierschem and I did mock trial, mock trial.

Female Q1: OK. Because Josh Guimond went missing and he was co-captain of the mock trial and he did..

Ward: I wasn’t at, I wasn’t at St. John’s when he was at…

Female Q1: You weren’t at St. John’s?

Ward: No

Ward: I was in the Bahamas

4:37

Klassen: Other Questions, please?

*** Female Questioner #2 ***

10:00 Technical discussion regarding microphones

10:22

*** Female Questioner #3 ***

Female Q3: [Inaudible] Dan

Ward: Hi

Female Q3: I don’t know if you remember me. I was one of your students in Constitutional Law. I just wanted to ask a question. You said “In doubt, you must always favor the person who is being accused.” Why do you feel that is necessary? I mean, if they are accused, isn’t there some sort of validity behind the accusation? Otherwise, they’d be innocent.

Ward: Well, it’s both the principal of canon law and its an ancient principal of roman law [Latin Phrase] and we do it in civil law too because in civil law and in criminal law it has to be beyond a reasonable doubt before someone can be convicted. And so the same principal holds in canon law that it has to be beyond a reasonable doubt so that accusations may or may not be true but the whole purpose of the legal system is through that legal system, to find out the truth. To give you an example, this is not civil and criminal law, but I was teaching a course in the seminary on marriage annulments, I, the students, they were all deacons, they would come and I would hear a case with them. In one case the person listened to the woman who was giving it and then the man wanted to give testimony and so I said to the seminarian, “You go down to Minneapolis to get the testimony.” And he came back and he said, “that woman is lying.” And I said, “Well the man said this…” and I said, “Well, that’s… you’re going to find out that in marriage, it’s usually somewhere in the middle. But you end up with a system of law is designed not what is canon law, civil law, european law, continental law, common law, is that no body is guilty of something until they, it’s been proven. And in the United States system we use “beyond a reasonable doubt.” In the church we use the phrase “moral certitude” so that’s how the system is developed. Accusations aren’t truth. Accusations are accusations.

12:57

Female Q3: Truthfully… And I agree with you that accusations can be damaging and that accusations can be out there forever. What I want to know specifically is, why did you apologize to me in 1985? [Note: The meeting actually took place in 1990.]

Ward: I don’t remember this.

Female Q3: Ok. Well, my accusations have been made. My accusations are out there. I know you are aware of them and I know that the last time you and I saw each other you asked me to forgive you. And, if you are willing to ask me to forgive you one more time, I’m willing to consider it because I have been carrying around a lot of pain, for a lot of years, and I’m not going to say the accusations, you and I know.

Ward: Well, actually.

Female Q3: You said we are all broken and we are all human. So, do you want my forgiveness?

Klassen: Sorry

Ward: Well, actually. Is this XXXXXXX, I didn’t hear your name.

Female Q3: Yeah

Klassen: This is…

Ward: Yeah, Well, if you remember, I did not say, “I ask for forgiveness.” I said, if there’s some way, because, you said you weren’t part of my groupies, I’m sorry. But I am not here to have a discussion about something that we, that was settled before in the vice-president’s office.

Female Q3: It wasn’t settled. I left and threw up after you tried to touch me.

Ward: I did not. I never did.

Female Q3: OK. Well, Dan, This was my one opportunity to ask you to say your sorry.

Female Q3: At this point, I’m done. Thank you.

If you or one of your family members contacted Gary Schoener or one of his associates at the Walk-In Counseling Service in Minneapolis and they 1) in any manner dissuaded you from pursuing therapy or action against Saint John’s Abbey and/or  2) they requested your medical or therapy records and/or  3) you did not receive additional support from Saint John’s Abbey, please consider contacting an attorney, the Minnesota Board of Psychology and/or using the feedback link (above).

Background:

In May of 2006, Saint John’s Abbey urged “those who have been abused or know someone who has been abused to call Gary Schoener, victim advocate for St. John’s Abbey.” [View]

In April of 2011 a letter [ View ] from St. John’s Abbey mentions Gary Schoener and the WICC as a “confidential” and “independent” resource for victims:

To be of assistance to victims we have contracted with the Walk-In
Counseling Service in Minneapolis. This resource is free of charge,
accessible by phone 24 hours a day, confidential, and independent of
Saint John’s. The Walk-In Counseling Service Center (WICC)
(www.walkin.org) can be accessed by contacting WICC af 1-612-870-0565
or 24-hour voicemail 1-612-573-5026 and stating your connection to
Saint John’s. Please ask for Mr. Gary Schoener for assistance. This
service can make all the difference for those who wish to reach out
for help. A person does not have to feel alone; help is available. If
you would like to speak to someone about these issues, please contact
the WICC for assistance.

Developing…

(Fox 9) It’s called the “Minnesota Transparency Initiative.” This month, in the interest of transparency, Saint John’s Abbey released thousands of pages of documents tied to monks “credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors” decades ago. However, some of the victims tell Fox 9 the release went too far — exposing private information about survivors.

Names of survivors were not released, and were redacted. However, one survivor, Louise (last name withheld), pointed Fox 9 to information she believes is personal and identifying that was posted online. Another survivor pointed to a deposition posted online.

In Louise’s case, documents included copies of e-mails sent from a psychologist to the head of the Abbey detailing information about Louise’s family, medication, and health diagnoses.

Louise said she was outraged not only because personal information was posted, but also because she believed the information was confidential. A letter sent from the head of the Abbey, Abbot John Klassen, offered victims the use of a free outside counseling service that was “confidential, and independent of Saint John’s.” But Louise says comments she shared during the counseling sessions were e-mailed to Klassen, and posted online. The documents have since been removed, but Fox 9 was able to verify the posting of e-mails from a psychologist.

“I took them at their word, and I feel that I was lied to. And they try to use the weapon of shame against me, and I refuse to be shamed,” said Louise.

Louise and another survivor believe the personal information was posted online to intimidate survivors. However, the Abbey, in a statement to Fox 9, said: “Saint John’s Abbey, working with its attorneys, tried very hard to make redactions sufficient to protect the identity of survivors. If any identifiers have been overlooked, it is unintentional and we welcome the reporting of any specific pages that raise concerns or call for further review. At the same time, we have reviewed pages that were objected to without finding any identifying information. Nevertheless, in some cases we removed the documents in question anyway. Our goal was always to go beyond what had been asked of us and to provide full information about the monks who have been identified in order to assist survivors. We will continue to examine the documents to make sure we accomplish this goal without compromising the privacy of others.”

Asked about the information shared by the psychologist, and posted online, the Abbey spokesperson replied that the organization “will not comment on specific documents or references.”

Louise has filed a police report with the Stearns County Sheriff.

“The harm is that it’s a strategic move, it looks like to me, to threaten survivors, and [the Abbot] does it hypocritically in the name transparency,” Louise told Fox 9.

View Entire Article… Here

Victims say St. John’s Abbey released documents containing personal information
Ted Haller
Fox9 Minneapolis
January 26, 2016

Father Allen Paul Tarlton OSB (1929 – 2016)

Collegeville

May 25, 1929 – January 25, 2016

Allen Paul Tarlton was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on December 4, 1927, to James and Ruth Estella (Jackson) Tarlton. When he was four years old his parents separated. His mother married William Smith, and Allen gained a half-sister, Wilma, and a half-brother, Ronald. Allen grew up in Cincinnati where he attended Holy Trinity School from 1933 to 1942. When he was in the third grade he chose to become a Catholic, was baptized on Holy Saturday, and received his first communion on Easter Sunday. As a sixth grader Allen expressed a desire to become a priest and began writing letters to various orders requesting information.

Allen began his secondary education at Woodward High School in Cincinnati in 1942. In his junior year Allen wrote a letter to the Trinitarian Fathers in Philadelphia hoping to be accepted into their seminary. When they discovered he was African-American his application was rejected. Allen was devastated, but a week later he met a priest from Trinidad who had visited St. Paul, Minnesota. This black priest told him about Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville and the monastic community there. Allen wrote to Abbot Alcuin Deutsch, OSB, and told him about being rejected elsewhere due to his race. In response Abbot Alcuin wrote, “The fact that you are colored will in no wise be a hindrance to your becoming a priest and a member of the Order of St. Benedict, provided all other qualifications are met.” Abbot Alcuin’s response was so accepting and open that Allen transferred to Saint John’s Preparatory School in September of 1944.

After graduation in 1946 Allen began college at Saint John’s University as a priesthood student. While in college he played viola in the orchestra, sang in the glee club, and participated in theater productions. Allen applied to the novitiate at Saint John’s Abbey in 1948, selecting the name Gilbert after the Benedictine monk Father Gilbert Winkelmann, OSB (1889-1947) whom he met and befriended on a train trip to Cincinnati. It was during the funeral of her son in 1947 that Mrs. Winkelmann volunteered to pay the tuition for Allen for two years of college, adopting him as her priest-son in place of Father Gilbert. Gilbert resumed his baptismal name Allen after the Second Vatican Council. He professed vows as a Benedictine monk on July 11, 1949 and began theological studies. After completing his studies Allen was ordained a priest on June 4, 1955.

Father Allen taught English at Saint John’s Preparatory School (1953-1957) and then served as an English Instructor at Saint John’s University (1957-1962). In 1962 he was assigned to Saint John’s foundation in the Bahamas where he taught English for two years at Saint Augustine’s College.

In 1965 Father Allen began a period of exclaustration in his home town of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Louisville, Kentucky, doing a variety of jobs, including parish ministry. Returning to Saint John’s in 1973 he taught English and was the drama director at Saint John’s Preparatory School until 1991.

Father Allen then became assistant guestmaster from 1994 to 2002. In addition he served as associate Oblate Director (1995-1997), then as the Oblate Director (1997-2002). For eighteen years he also served as the secretary of the monastic chapter (1979-1997).

Father Allen suffered from health problems, including alcoholism and diabetes, and faced limitations later in life because of his deteriorating health. He moved into the Saint Raphael Hall retirement center at Saint John’s Abbey in his later years, where he observed the monastic horarium as he was able.

In the last twenty-five years of his life he faced several allegations of sexual abuse and, as a result, lived with restrictions on his activities.

Father Allen valiantly fought racism throughout his life. He was delighted beyond measure at the election in 2008 of Barack Obama as the first African-American president of the United States. Commenting at the time of the election about racial isolation on the Saint John’s campus in the 1940s, Father Allen observed in an article in the student newspaper, The Record, “For a long time I think I tried to be as white as I possibly could. I would never say black. When we had watermelon in the dining room I didn’t eat it. I loved watermelon, but I didn’t want to be identified with it.”

Father Allen died on January 25 in the retirement center. He is survived by his sister, Wilma Smith, and brother, Ronald Smith, and the community at Saint John’s Abbey. The monks, family, and friends will celebrate the Eucharist of Christian Burial for Father Allen on January 30th at 10:30 am in Saint John’s Abbey Church. Interment in Saint John’s Cemetery follows the service.

See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sctimes/obituary.aspx?n=allen-paul-tarlton&pid=177478694