“As long as St. John’s has this man on the payroll, I will no longer give my money to St. John’s,” Busch wrote. “I will not support lies and false statements and half truths about anyone.”

[Webmaster's Note: This quote is not about Abbot John Klassen, Prior Tom Andert or any of the offending monks and other personnel at St. John's Abbey, St. John's University or St. John's Prep School in Collegeville, Minnesota. Perhaps if more people withheld money for legitimate reasons [ Like this Alum ] , the Abbey would fully disclose the crimes committed by its members and representatives, and reach out to victims.]

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[Webmaster's Note: This is yet another attempt by the abbey's public relations team to shift the focus from the members of its community who have raped, sodomized and otherwise destroyed the lives of 100's of victims who trusted the monks and other offending personnel in Collegeville. The new "individual safety plan" terminology makes no sense until you consider that what the abbey is protecting is their reputation, period. Having "restricted" or "supervised" monks is bad for business.

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(Fox9) COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – In 2002, the head of St. John’s Abbey told the public monks, who were accused of sexual misconduct, they would live under restrictions. Many thought it was a sort of house arrest, but that was not the case. The FOX 9 Investigators found just how easy it is for a so called restricted monk to leave St. John’s and befriend a family, a family that didn’t initially know about the monk’s restrictions because St. John’s had not made his name public.

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There are several stories here:

1. In 2002, two former St. John’s Prep School students brought claims of sexual abuse against Br. Phillips. Br. Phillips allegedly fondled both of these victims, and sodomized one of the victims with his thumb. St. John’s Abbey settled these two claims of sexual abuse (and possibly several others) against Br. Phillips.

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“This is Abbot John Klassen calling from St. John’s and I am returning your calls. I was finally successful in speaking to [name] regarding Br. Jim Phillips. I spoke with her directly about the fact that Br. Jim is living with supervision, that there were two allegations from the 1980’s, early 80s, that we did an investigation, that despite his denial of these events, nevertheless, he was not convincing of his account of events, that he has been living with supervision since that time.”

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Brother Jim was removed from public ministry immediately at the time your allegation came to our attention in August 2002 and has been at the abbey since that time. At no time since has he had access to minors as part of his work.

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After more than eight years of covering up credible allegations of sexual abuse by one of its members, a source at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN has admitted that Br. Jim Phillips is a “Monk Under Supervision”.

Br. Jim Phillips in mid-1970′s

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This morning we were contacted by a second victim of Fr. Othmar Hohman.

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On Wednesday evening, Minneapolis television station Fox9 [ Link ] will air a report on Br. Jim Phillips, a monk at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota.

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Monks with a Safety Plan may not have social relationships or individual contact with vulnerable persons of any age on the Saint John’s campus or off-campus, in any setting.

Webmaster’s Note: This Official Statement should be read carefully. The Abbey continues to hold itself, and its offending monks, to such a low standard of responsibility and accountability. Sadly, offending monks are failing to meet even the low expectations set by the Abbey.

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The following monks from St. John’s Abbey have web sites:

Fr. Tom Andert
Fr. Timothy Backous
Br. Dennis Beach
Fr. Nickolas Becker
Br. Isaac Connolly

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Since 1961, St. Joseph Parish in St. Joseph, MN has been home to some of St. John’s Abbey’s most notorious perpetrators of abuse and misconduct. In addition to sending pedophiles and other deviants to the parish, the past two Abbots (Timothy Kelly and John Klassen) have misled the St. Joseph congregation on matters of abuse in their parish.

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Br. Isaac Connolly [ Link ] took his down.
Fr. Finian McDonald [ Link ] did the same.
Now Fr. Brennan Maiers [ Link ] is taking a shot.

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At St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, several members of the Order of St. Benedict live under restrictions imposed by Abbot John Klassen. Some members faced with the possibility of restrictions have taken leaves from the order to consider whether they wish to remain members of the order. Klassen said in 2002 that as many as 15 monks or priests were on restriction at the abbey, including former Abbot John Eidenschink. Klassen last month declined an interview request from the Times to discuss the current state of the abbey and the monks on restriction.

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This is an attempt at damage control.

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(St. Cloud Times) Back in 2002, we praised St. John’s Abbey, under the leadership of Abbot John Klassen, for unveiling a comprehensive approach to addressing clergy sex abuse.

That plan focused on apologies, accountability, and the abbey taking action when and if more allegations arose.

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Two weeks after knowingly posting false information about Fr. Francisco Schulte on its web site, St. John’s Abbey has taken it down.

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Note: Abbot John Klassen is no longer a credible speaker with regard to the sexual abuse crisis. His well-documented handling of the sexual abuse crisis has been a failure. Abbot John Klassen and the abbey’s continued (and even very recent) choice to deceive, rather than fully disclose, will have a devastating impact on the entire St. John’s community.

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(SC Times) COLLEGEVILLE — St. John’s Abbey publications and newspaper articles from the 1990s on contradict the abbey’s own statement about the whereabouts and work history of the Rev. Francisco Schulte after the abbey received an allegation of sexual misconduct against him.

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At least four claims made in the St. John’s Abbey “Statement on Father Francisco Schulte” (May 18, 2010) [ View ] are blatantly false or contradict other statements made by the Abbey:

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ST. PAUL, Minn. – Two brothers who say they were sexually abused by a priest affiliated with a Minnesota abbey filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the religious order that runs the abbey and its preparatory school, as well as their alleged abuser.
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Announcement of a lawsuit to be filed on Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court against Collegeville, Minnesota-based St. John’s Preparatory School, St, John’s Abbey, the Order of St. Benedict and Father Raymond Francisco Schulte, a minister at the school. The lawsuit stems from the alleged recruiting, grooming and subsequent sexual abuse and exploitation of two minor students (aged 12 and 14) by Father Schulte between 1984 and 1986 in North Carolina and Minnesota. (more…)

POR QUE: Ess el anuncio de una demanda por radicarse el martes en el
juzgado del Distrito del Condado Ramsey contra St. John’s Preparatory
School en Collegeville, Minnesota, la St. John’s Abbey, la Order of
St. Benedict y el padre Raymond Francisco Schulte, anteriormente
profesor y pastor en dicha escuela. (more…)

Pedophile priest Brennan Maiers enjoyed breakfast with family members in the college cafeteria this morning.

What, exactly, does “restriction” mean?

Note: One of Fr. Maier’s victim was nine years old.

Oblates were invited for Evening Prayer and supper with the sisters before Abbot John Klassen of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville opened the series of Catholic Studies talks with Reconciliation: A Scarred Church Faces a New Century. Quite a sizable crowd gathered in Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel for the presentation.
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