Category Archives: Allen Tarlton

Court to Consider Expelling Clergy

A Minneapolis man who accuses St. John’s Abbey of “harboring pedophiles” has filed a court action demanding the removal of 11 monks and priests from St. John’s property.

Movers & Shapers: Abbot John Klassen

COLLEGEVILLE — He’s the man they call on to get the job done whether on the farm, with soon-to-be monks, in the chemistry department or now as head of the St. John’s monastery.

Scandal at the Abbey – Part 1

Its reputation for learning and liturgy, publishing and holiness, ecumenism and even bread-making are legendary and have grown over its 146-year existence, making St. John’s Abbey here — with its impressive abbey church and signature bell tower — a jewel … Continue reading

To clergy victims, acknowledgment proves invaluable

Collegeville – An apology, validation and a promise to ensure sexual abuse won’t happen to another child or adult. These, for many survivors of clergy sexual abuse, are far more important than financial settlement.

Decades Of Abuse And Secrecy At St. John’s Abbey

As allegations of sex abuse and coverup in the Catholic Church shook the nation this year, St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., confronted its own dark past. Former students came forward, some for the first time, to talk about what … Continue reading

11 monks on restriction; 2 on leave of absence

Under St. John’s policy, monks on restriction are to have no pastoral or teaching duties or unsupervised social contact with young people. They are not allowed to work in the prep school or university, use most campus facilities, or serve … Continue reading

Orders have let abusers remain

Abbot John Klassen has been praised for disclosing some monks’ misdeeds and criticized for allowing some to travel.

Criminal prosecution of priests considered

The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office is investigating three cases of alleged sex abuse by priests for possible criminal prosecution, said Sheriff Jim Kostreba. He declined to provide details about the cases but said recently that the investigations began several weeks … Continue reading

St. John’s removes 2 monks from posts

Abbot John Klassen has removed the Rev. Fran Hoefgen as guest master of the St. John’s Abbey guest house and the Rev. Allen Tarlton as director of its Oblate program before a threatened protest this weekend by victims of clergy … Continue reading

2 abbey priests leave jobs that involved the public

Two St. John’s Abbey priests on restriction for sexual misconduct have stepped down from abbey jobs in which they interacted with the public, an abbey official confirmed Tuesday.

Abbot removes two monks from positions at abbey

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Two monks living under restrictions at St. John’s Abbey for alleged sexual misconduct have been relieved of their duties at the abbey by Abbot John Klassen.

Saint John’s Abbey Announces New Appointments

July 8, 2002 — Abbot John Klassen, OSB has appointed Landelin Robling, OSB to serve as Abbey Guestmaster, and Michael Kwatera, OSB to serve as Acting Director of Oblates. The monks who formerly served in those positions, Fran Hoefgen, OSB … Continue reading

Sex abuse suit filed against St. John’s monks

Calling for an end to secrecy about sex abuse by monks at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., attorney Jeff Anderson filed a lawsuit on behalf of two men who allege that two monks at the abbey abused them when … Continue reading

Abuser monks out of the ministry, still in jobs

Minnesota’s Catholic bishops returned from Dallas with an explicit mandate to deal with sex abusers in the clergy. The “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” binds bishops around the country to the same “one-strike” policy.

Criminal prosecution of priests considered

The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office is investigating three cases of alleged sex abuse by priests for possible criminal prosecution, said Sheriff Jim Kostreba.

Lawsuit Widens Claims of Abuse

Declaring themselves victims of sexual abuse and claiming that St. John’s Abbey has covered up such abuse for decades, two former prep school students on Thursday sued the abbey and two priests already living under restrictions because of sexual misconduct.

St. John’s Abbey Restricts 14th Monk

St. John’s Abbey officials have confirmed that a 14th member has been put on restrictions after being accused of sexual misconduct.

St. John’s Abbey looks at a lawsuit

Two men who say monks abused them as teenagers are suing St. John’s Abbey. Their case, filed in St. Cloud, names two individual monks and the entire Benedictine monastic order as defendants. The suit claims St. John’s has been concealing … Continue reading

Abbot Klassen and Allen Tarlton Deceive the Oblates

Note: The following letter was written by Father Allen Tarlton, a monk at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN. The letter was sent to the members of the Abbey’s Oblate Program. Included with the letter from Tarlton was a letter … Continue reading

Abbot Klassen’s Letter Supporting Allen Tarlton’s Deception

Note: The following letter was written by Abbot John Klassen, in support of Father Allen Tarlton and a letter Tarlton wrote to the members of the Oblates program. Abbot Klassen knew, when he wrote his letter, that Father Tarlton had … Continue reading