The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released an age-enhanced photo of Guimond to bring renewed awareness to his case. All searches thus far have been unsuccessful, but as three women in Cleveland proved this week, it’s important to always be aware of one’s surroundings.

Guimond was last seen leaving a friend’s apartment on campus over ten years ago — no one knows what happened on the walk back to his dorm. Each year, friends and family gather to share stories and keep him in their hearts.

Visit http://www.findjoshua.com for more information on the search for Josh Guimond

Read more: New photo of Josh Guimond, still missing after 10 years – KMSP-TV

He hasn’t been seen since.

At the request of Stearns County Sheriff’s authorities,  the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension created an age-enhanced image of what Guimond might look like today.  Police hope bringing renewed awareness to the case may help them solve it.

If you have any information on Josh Guimond, call the Stearns County Sheriff’s Department at 320-251-4240 or the BCA Tip Line at 1-877-996-6222.

Source: WJON

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This past Sunday, I had a conversation with a victim of sexual abuse perpetrated by Msgr. Jerome Boxleitner.  Boxleitner is not a monk from St. John’s but his name appears on this web site. Officials at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, including Archbishop John Roach,  were provided with information about Boxleitner’s abuse beginning in 1989.

According to TwinCities.com, Msgr. Jerome Boxleitner ”died of pneumonia Thursday, March 14. He was 82 and had been living at a New Hope retirement community.”

Since Boxleitner’s death, several people have contacted me regarding Boxleitner. They arrived at this web site because of a post that includes his name. That post [ View ] also includes a PDF with information regarding Boxleitner’s misconduct.

After reviewing the PDF, speaking with its author, and contacting one of Boxleitner’s victims (who confirmed the abuse) I left a voice mail for Archbishop John C. Nienstedt with a request that he review Boxleitner’s personnel file before he performs Boxleitner’s funeral mass on Tuesday.

Around the time the PDF was made public (in 2006), Archbishop Harry Flynn removed Boxleitner from his residence on the grounds of the St. Joseph’s Home for Children. Boxleitner reportedly rented a condo owned by a local businessman. Approximately 18 months later, a female friend of Boxleitner requested that Boxleitner be allowed to move back into the residence.  Archbishop Flynn granted the request.

Last year, the Higher Ground homeless shelter was opened. The building was to be called “Boxleitner’s Place” [ View ] but when several people familiar with Boxleitner’s history learned of the to name the building after an offender, the name was changed. A photo shows that Boxleitner was allowed to participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony [ View ] with Archbishop Nienstedt.

At least one of Boxleitner’s victims may have received counseling. Boxleiter received alcohol counseling. However, because Boxleitner’s misconduct was never made public, Boxleitner was able to enjoy a life of public service and ministry with potential victims.

Former Vicar General Father Kevin McDonough, Father Mike O’Connell, and Archbishop John Roach, were also aware of Boxleitner’s misconduct.

If you have information about Msgr. Jerome Boxleitner, please feel free to send a note or give a call.

One such note:

“We have thoughts of Boxleitner bringing children to Spooner Wisconsin. Saint Lawrence Lodge~was owned by Catholic Charites/Saint Josephs Home for children. The word around these parts is that the father didn’t want other people around when he came up on weekends with children.”

Posted March 16, 2013 at 8:54pm (Central)

Updated March 17, 2013 at 4:06pm (Central)

Updated March 18, 2013 @ 7:31pm (Central)

According to CNN:

A cardinal at the center of an international scandal over alleged sexual abuse reversed course Sunday and apologized.

“I wish to take this opportunity to admit that there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal,” Cardinal Keith O’Brien said in a statement. [ View ]

Compare this course of action with that from six-time accused priest Father Dan Ward and Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota in a recent article by Jason Berry:

St. John’s Abbey responded to questions about Ward with a statement saying that he “has not committed any act of sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult. There is no known investigation of Father Daniel being conducted by any law enforcement, public agency or ecclesiastical body.” [ View ]

Saint John’s Abbey lied to Jason Berry.

Father Dan Ward is currently under investigation. According to Fox 9 in Minneapolis [ View ] he has been since October of 2012.

Father Dan Ward has been credibly accused of grooming at least one minor and abusing at least five vulnerable adults (including three students and two young monks).

When a student came to Father Dan Ward with allegations of misconduct by Father Finian McDonald and Father Bruce Wollmering, Father Ward allegedly threatened to expel the student from school. These allegations were brought forward in a case that was recently settled by Saint John’s Abbey.

Like Cardinal O’Brien, Father Dan Ward is a predator.

Like Cardinal O’Brien, Father Ward is under investigation.

Like Cardinal O’Brien, Father Dan Ward has multiple victims.

Unlike Cardinal O’Brien, Father Dan Ward remains a liar.

A canonist and civil lawyer, he has also done extensive defense work for clergy sex offenders and their communities. He refused interview requests.

“It’s a little like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality — doing good for the nuns, while helping bishops or religious superiors deal with their sex offenders,” said Pat Wall, who was a young protégé to Ward at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota in the early 1980s.

Back then, Father Ward was advising religious communities in the early wave of abuse litigation. He told Wall “to get any case settled before it’s filed. You do not want to get involved in the civil discovery process.”

Ward, who leads the legal team of the Resource Center for Religious Institutes (RCRI), has ended up opposite his former student, Wall, in several civil cases. Ward’s work for nuns, says Wall, has been secondary to “his biggest role in the last 25 years — as a consultant lawyer to various monasteries, dioceses and churches in defending them in cases of sexual abuse. Ward has functioned on every single level on the defense side.”

Sister Mary David Walgenbach is the head of the Holy Wisdom Monastery, an ecumenical institution that broke away from the Catholic Church, but with Ward’s help, held onto its land.

“I have the utmost regard for what Dan Ward and RCRI [Resource Center for Religious Institutes] have done for women religious,” said Walgenbach.

“He’s worked tirelessly for communities dealing with sexual abuse, helping victims and communities getting back on their feet. He’s laid down his life for the church with all of its frailties,” she said.

But Ward also has critics. Last fall, four people accused Ward of unwanted sexual advances against them in the 1970s when they were college students at St. John’s in Collegeville, where he taught at the time. They sent statements to the abbot, according to letters posted by Patrick J. Marker, of Seattle, on BehindthePineCurtain.com.

The website excoriates the abbey for concealing abusive monks. In 2002, the abbey announced internal sanctions against 12 monks whose victims secured legal settlements. Marker, who studied at Collegeville, is an abuse survivor who received a legal settlement in 1989. He says that his purpose in posting the complaints “is to get him removed — not a lawsuit. Dan Ward helped shield various sexual perpetrators.”

Despite the allegations, Walgenbach said, “I can’t say enough good things about the man. I am sorry he has to pay the price” of the group, RCRI. It was named by William Cardinal Levada in his so-called “Doctrinal Assessment” of April 2012 when the Vatican investigated the RCRI for its ties to Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which was at the center of Levada’s probe.

The accusations against Ward surfaced six months after the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith posted its “Doctrinal Assessment.”

Sister Longo, the RCRI board president, said in a statement by email, “Many of us on the RCRI Board have known Father Dan Ward for many years, both personally and professionally, and have nothing but the highest regard for him and his integrity.”

St. John’s Abbey responded to questions about Ward with a statement saying that he “has not committed any act of sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult. There is no known investigation of Father Daniel being conducted by any law enforcement, public agency or ecclesiastical body.”

The order said, “the website operator (Marker) has engaged in a campaign to condemn Father Daniel to his colleagues and the public without any evidence.”

To date no legal action has arisen. Ward continues his work supporting nuns in various land matters.

In addition to his work for the Holy Wisdom Monastery, Ward has also assisted nuns in Sacramento, California, in the selling of a school, according to a spokesman for Bishop Jaime Soto.

In 2009, Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM) religious order, which had run a popular girls’ high school called Loretto, abruptly announced that the school would close.

The IBVM motherhouse in Wheaton, Illinois had been reduced to 80 sisters, facing elder care expenses. The decision to sell Loretto followed a fundraising campaign of several years that drew nearly $5 million for renovation of school property. The closure drew heavy media coverage.

Over objections by the board, donors, parents and alumni, the sisters sold Loretto to a charter school for a reported $8 million, netting $3 million. When donors and others sued the nuns to recoup a share of proceeds, Bishop Soto joined the suit, arguing that the diocese deserved compensation for its help in the renovation.

A California superior court rejected the suit.

Although Ward was not a defense counsel on the case, his legal architecture prevailed — just as it did at Holy Wisdom in Westport, Wisconsin.

GlobalPost Vatican correspondent Jason Berry, is author of “Render unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church,” which received Investigative Reporters and Editors 2011 Book Award. This Special Report is supported in part by a Knight Grant for Reporting on Religion and American Public Life, sponsored by the Knight Program at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism; the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting; and the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

Source: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/130301/catholic-church-nuns-father-dan-ward

Jason Berry
March 1, 2013 14:23
Who is Father Dan Ward?

What is source, who was in canoe with Bruce?

[Webmaster's Note: Matthew Feeney is a 1991 graduate of Saint John's University and was the Youth Group Minister at the Church of St. Joseph in the early 1990s. The Church of Saint Joseph and its leadership, have been under fire lately for covering up allegations of sexual and other misconduct.]

Investigators: In Feeney’s Words

(Fox 9) Matthew Feeney was a prominent talent agent when he was charged with molesting two boys who were his clients. He claims he did nothing wrong, but the FOX 9 Investigators found Feeney’s own words paint a startling picture.

If Feeney’s job was to cast performers in just the right role, one might wonder what role he considered for himself — and what role would best fulfill what he once called his “temptation.”

“I can tell you what my trigger was,” Feeney told a longtime advocate for sexual abuse survivors as he disclosed his attraction to boys between the age of 14 and 15. “I can tell you when I fell off the wagon.”

It’s already known that Feeney’s victims span decades — and possibly the country, but Feeney says he stayed away from teen boys in the years following three child sex abuse convictions in 1992. While he has repeatedly refused to give details about what he’s done in recent years, Feeney did make an admission that some of his actions were “definitely” inappropriate while he was being recorded in secret.

The advocate for sex abuse survivors gave the recording to the FOX 9 Investigators, who also videotaped the encounter.

Court documents detail a trail of victims over decades — some proven and some yet to be proven — beginning as far back as the fall of 1990 and as recently as 2011. They also reveal a man who seems to want to make amends for what he has done, but not at his own expense.

“An honest person does 25 years. You’ve got nothing, no way to negotiate. The only defense you have is to keep your mouth shut and say, ‘You’ve got to prove the case and make everybody — including the kids — go through this,’” Feeney said.

If convicted on the charges he now faces in Washington County, Feeney will face a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment. Last month, he appeared in court to face accusations he had molested two boys while they slept over at his home.

According to the criminal complaint, the boys are brothers — and they and their parents met Feeney through his former casting agency, Walden Entertainment.

The boys’ parents told FOX 9 News Feeney would often host X-Box parties with other children, and they let their sons go because they trusted that other children and parents would be there too.

Those who know Feeney told FOX 9 News he often would work to win the parents’ trust as part of his “grooming process,” which included showering the children with gifts.

That trust continued when the boys insisted everything was fine, and experts say that’s not uncommon because predators put children in an awkward position of choosing between special benefits, gifts and attention or going against someone with high status and a position of authority.

The mother of the boys in the Washington County case told FOX 9 News Feeney was very believable — until her youngest son fell to the ground and started crying, telling her Feeney had touched his privates.

“I almost passed out. For a second, everything stopped,” she said. “Everything in my world stopped.”

She then called her oldest son in and watched as her 6-foot-tall teen also fell to the floor in tears, saying, “Oh no.”

“I said, ‘I need to know the truth,’” the boys’ mother recalled. “He said, ‘Yes, mom. He molested me too.’”

The teen then told his mother he never thought his 9-year-old brother was experience the same thing — and that is young for Feeney, even by his own admission.

“I’m not interested in somebody that age,” Feeney said. “It’s just … it would be like being comfortably gay and then some chick comes up and says, ‘Hey, you want some?’”

However, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t keep contact.

“It was basically like, ‘Hang around him, ’cause in four or five years, he’ll be old enough to be someone I’d be interested in,” Feeney said.

After the news of the Washington County case broke in March 2012, yet another Minnesota mother had a painful talk with her teenaged son.

“He leaned forward and he grabbed my hand and he started crying,” she recalled.

Two years earlier, the then-12-year-old and his mother stayed at a Wisconsin campground with Feeney and some other friends, sharing a large tent with him and a few others.

“Mind you, my son is sleeping next to me — huddled up, ’cause it was cold,” she said.

Court documents claim Feeney rubbed the boy’s abdomen with his foot and tugged on his pajama bottoms with his toes. The boy said he thought Feeney was trying to get his pants down.

“A few minutes later, my son woke me up and said he was cold and asked if I would take him to the truck to sleep,” she recalled.

That it happened while she was present makes her fear Feeney as dangerously brazen, she said — and she’s also frustrated that St. Croix County won’t prosecute the case as an attempted sex crime. The district attorney told the FOX 9 Investigators he can’t prove what Feeney was really up to — but here’s what Feeney said.

“I was testing the waters,” he said.

Feeney said the boy had joked around with him during the day, something the much older man perceived as flirting.

“I was trying to see if there was anything to read into it,” Feeney said, adding that it may have gone another step if the boy had reacted.

The parents of the boys say the scariest thing is the knowledge that their boys may not have come forward at all if they hadn’t heard that Feeney had been accused of abusing a boy in Massachusetts in 2011.

Court documents from that case identify the victim as the son of a relative Feeney had been visiting, accusing Feeney of climbing into bed with the boy and putting his hand down the boy’s pajama pants.

Parents and police fear there may be many more victims, and the Massachusetts victim said he is worried too because Feeney has been dressing up as Santa Claus for 21 years — including at a home day care in Eden Prairie as recently as 2011.

It appears Feeney has struggled — at least off-and-on — for his entire adult life with what he called his “dark side.”

In a journal from the early 1990s, Feeney wrote, “It would be so much easier to simply be gay. At least you could find some support and acceptance from others who share your feelings. How many support groups are there for potential child molesters? Call it what you want. That’s what I am. I am a monster.”

In the journal, Feeney also writes about going outside and shooting himself, saying, “at least the kids would be safe from me and my temptation.”

Yet, it seems Feeney may have succumbed to that temptation. The journal landed in the hands of police investigators in 1992 after a boy accused Feeney of molesting him in his sleep while he stayed at Feeney’s home in St. Cloud. Feeney was the boy’s youth counselor at St. Joe’s Catholic Church at the time.

In a statement to a detective obtained by the FOX 9 Investigators, Feeney admitted to fondling 10 or a dozen boys in their sleep, mostly while he was serving as a counselor at the Catholic youth camp near Milaca. He said 90 percent of those victims were 14, 15, or 16 years old.

That confession has many wondering how Feeney was able to continue, but Aitkin County filed charges in only two of the cases Feeney confessed to because the other boys said they didn’t remember anything happening — but it doesn’t appear they interviewed all the alleged victims Feeney admitted molesting.

In 1992, Feeney pleaded guilty to abusing one boy at his home and two at camp. Now, Feeney is claiming he wants to make amends to the boys in the current cases and wanting to avoid trial for the sake of the children.

“They are out for blood,” Feeney said. “They want to put me away for the rest of my God d—- life, and that’s not exactly appropriate for what I’ve been accused for either.”

View Entire Article and Comments… Here

Investigators: In Feeney’s words
Fox 9 Minnesota
Feb 18, 2013
Trish Van Pilsum

A week after the movie premiered, Pope Benedict XVI resigned [ More ].

A.W. Richard Sipe’s Web Site… Here

Pat Wall’s Web Site… Here

A.W. Richard Sipe

Pat Wall

“I can’t help but think that the sex abuse crisis must have been on his mind,” Gibney emailed back when I asked for his take on the news. “There was no going forward on that issue while he was in office.”  The filmmaker added:  ”I give him credit for resigning.  That brought a bit of modernity to the Papacy.”

In announcing that he would resign on Feb. 28, the Pope, who’s 85,  indicated that “I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise” of his responsibilities as the head of the Catholic Church. Dealing — or not dealing, as Benedict’s critics have claimed — with the sex-abuse scandals must have been a taxing part of that job. And though the Times did not draw any direct correlation between the controversy and Benedict’s decision to step down, the paper of record did note that, in 2010, outraged critics of the church’s handling of these clerical abuses had called on Benedict to resign.

Read Entire Article and Comments… Here

[Webmaster's Note: The following email was sent to Blue Cloud Abbey's Abbot Denis Quinkert on June 1, 2012. The abbey announced it was closing on June 12, 2012.]

Email to Blue Cloud Abbey’s Abbot Denis Quinkert on June 1, 2012

A letter from Rev. Msgr. Dennis A. Skonseng dated April 23, 2008 reads, in part, “Blue Cloud Abbey was informed and addresses Father Quinkert about his misconduct with women. In 1991, Father Quinkert participated in a sabbatical during which he received counseling and spiritual direction.” and “Abbot Hillenbrand has sent a letter of good standing to me testifying that Father Quinkert is a priest in good standing, and that he is suitable to exercise priestly ministry.”

A letter from Abbot Thomas Hillebrand dated November 24, 2008 reads, in part, “[Denis Quinkert] does know that he was going though a crisis in his vocation and a deep struggle with his own sexuality. And he is deeply sorry for the hurt that he caused you.” and “The favor that I want to ask of you is that you do not mention that incident outside of the sacrament of Confession. It causes a lot of damages to his character and sets off all sorts of alarms in the official Church.”

These and other documents suggest that Abbot Quinkert is not a suitable leader. Fr. Hillenbrand’s attempt to silence the victims of Quinkert’s misconduct is equally shameful.

What is being done for Quinkert’s victims? How many other victims of misconduct (by Quinkert and other monks) were silenced by Fr. Hillenbrand and other enablers at the abbey?

Before these questions are asked publicly, it may be appropriate for Abbot Quinkert to step down as abbot. It may also be appropriate for both Fr. Hillenbrand and Abbot Quinkert to make known their misconduct to the proper civil and canonical authorities.

OP-ED COLUMNIST
Catholicism’s Curse
By FRANK BRUNI
Published: January 26, 2013

Read Entire Article and Comments… Here

“I HAVE nothing against priests,” writes Garry Wills in his provocative new book, “Why Priests? A Failed Tradition,” and I’d like at the outset to say the same. During a career that has included no small number of formal interviews and informal conversations with them, I’ve met many I admire, men of genuine compassion and remarkable altruism, more dedicated to humanity than to any dogma or selective tradition.

But while I have nothing against priests, I have quite a lot against an institution that has done a disservice to them and to the parishioners in whose interests they should toil. I refer to the Roman Catholic Church, specifically to its modern incarnation and current leaders, who have tucked priests into a cosseted caste above the flock, wrapped them in mysticism and prioritized their protection and reputations over the needs and sometimes even the anguish of the people in the pews. I have a problem, in other words, with the church’s arrogance, a thread that runs through Wills’s book, to be published next month; through fresh revelations of how assiduously a cardinal in Los Angeles worked to cover up child sexual abuse; and through the church’s attempts to silence dissenters, including an outspoken clergyman in Ireland who was recently back in the news.

LET’S start with Los Angeles. Last week, as a result of lawsuits filed against the archdiocese of Los Angeles by hundreds of victims of sexual abuse by priests, internal church personnel files were made public. They showed that Cardinal Roger M. Mahony’s impulse, when confronted with priests who had molested children, was to hush it up and keep law enforcement officials at bay. While responses like this by Roman Catholic bishops and cardinals have been extensively chronicled and are no longer shocking, they remain infuriating. At one point Cardinal Mahony instructed a priest whom he’d dispatched to New Mexico for counseling not to return to California, lest he risk being criminally prosecuted. That sort of shielding of priests from accountability allowed them, in many cases across the United States, to continue their abusive behavior and claim more young victims.

Cardinal Mahony, who led the Los Angeles archdiocese from 1985 to 2011, released a statement last week in which he said that until 2006, when he began to meet with dozens of victims, he didn’t grasp “the full and lasting impact these horrible acts would have” on the children subjected to them. I find that assertion incredible and appalling. It takes no particular sophistication about matters of mental health to intuit that a child molested by an adult — in these cases, by an adult who is supposed to be a moral exemplar and tutor, even a conduit to the divine — would be grievously damaged. The failure to recognize that and to make sure that abusive priests’ access to children was eliminated, even if that meant trials and jail sentences, suggests a greater concern for the stature of clergymen than for the souls of children.

Church officials and defenders note that Cardinal Mahony’s gravest misdeeds occurred in the 1980s, before church leaders were properly educated about recidivism among pedophiles and before the dimensions of the child sexual abuse crisis in the church became clear. They point out that the church’s response improved over time. That’s true, but what hasn’t changed is the church’s hubris. This hubris abetted the crisis: the particular sway that abusers held over their victims and the special trust they received from those children’s parents were tied into the church’s presentation of priests as paragons.

And this hubris also survives the crisis, manifest in the way that the Vatican, a gilded enclave so far removed and so frequently out of step with the rest of the world, clamps down on Catholics who challenge its rituals and rules. Much of what these dissenters raise questions about — the all-male priesthood, for example, or the commitment to celibacy that priests are required to make — aren’t indisputable edicts from God. They’re inventions of the mortals who took charge of the faith.

Read Entire Article and Comments… Here

OP-ED COLUMNIST
Catholicism’s Curse
By FRANK BRUNI
Published: January 26, 2013

New right-hand-man’s Minnesota bio provides comic material for Obama

In introducing Stillwater native Denis McDonough as his new chief of staff before a White House gathering on Friday, President Obama gave several nods to the home state of the newly installed right-hand man.

Most notable among Obama’s shout-outs to reliably Democratic Minnesota was noting McDonough’s “college football days as a defensive back under the legendary John Gagliardi” at St. John’s University from 1988-91.

Then came the president’s zinger: “I always tease Denis that he made up for modest talents with extraordinary dedication and a high threshold for pain.

“This does remind me of perhaps the one topic on which Denis and I will never agree, and that is Vikings vs. Bears,” said Obama, who is from Chicago.

For the record, McDonough fared quite well for the small-school football powerhouse as a safety, with 171 tackles and 12 interceptions during his college career.

Obama began by emphasizing that just because McDonough is now in the inner-most ring of the Oval Office’s inner circle, he’s “a pretty humble guy. To so many of his friends and admirers, he’s still just the dude from Stillwater, Minnesota.”

While posted in the nation’s capital, McDonough has upheld the Twin Cities’ reputation as a bicycle-friendly community, but Obama said his top aide “will probably have to stop riding his bike to work. As chief of staff, I don’t think that’s allowed.”

Read Full Article and Comments… Here

New right-hand-man’s Minnesota bio provides comic material for Obama
Paul Walsh
Star Tribune
January 25, 2013

Obama names Minnesota native Denis McDonough chief of staff

WASHINGTON — Calling him “a great friend to me” and “one of my closest and most trusted advisers,” President Obama officially named Stillwater native Denis McDonough his new chief of staff on Friday.

Obama praised McDonough for his work on national security issues — “Denis has played a key role in every major national security decision of my presidency,” Obama said, such as the draw-downs of the wars in the Middle East and high-profile changes to military policy — and his efficient, behind the scenes work at the White House. Calling him a “man of deep faith,” Obama said he’s used McDonough as a liaison to important political constituencies like faith groups and immigration reform proponents.

McDonough is said to be popular among White House staffers and received big cheers when his appointment was announced.

“The truth is, nobody outworks Denis McDonough,” Obama said. “In addition to being an incredible talent and such a hard worker, Denis is also a pretty humble guy. To so many of his friends and his admirers, he’s still just the dude from Stillwater, Minnesota.”

McDonough’s appointment has been, by even Obama’s admission, one of Washington’s worst kept secrets since the president appointed his current chief of staff, Jack Lew, to head the Treasury Department earlier this month. McDonough has been a confidant of the president’s since Obama’s days in the Senate, where McDonough made his name as a national security expert. He has served as a deputy national security adviser since Obama took office in 2009.

McDonough grew up in Stillwater and graduated from St. John’s University, where he studied history and played defensive back for legendary football coach John Gagliardi. (“This does remind me of perhaps the one topic on which we’ll never agree,” Obama said, “which is Vikings vs. Bears.”)

At 43 years old, McDonough is much younger than the three Obama chiefs of staff who preceded him. He lives in Alexandra, Va., with his wife and three children and is known to commute by bicycle to the White House.

Obama joked that those days are behind him now.

“As chief of staff, I don’t think that’s allowed,” he said.

Speaking directly to McDonough’s kids, sitting in the front row of a crowd gathered for the announcement in the White House’s East Room, Obama said, “He does what he does because he cares and loves you guys so much. … He wants to make sure that the next generation is inheriting the kind of America that we all want.”

View Entire Article and Comments… Here

Obama names Minnesota native Denis McDonough chief of staff
MinnPost.com
Devin Henry
01/25/13

In 1992, Patrick Marker of Washington State settled a civil child sex and cover up suit against St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville. Marker charges that Rev. Dunstan Morse molested him in the 1980s.

Since then, Marker has been tracking sexual abuse and misconduct reports involving current and former St. John’s Abbey personnel.

On January 7, Marker sent a two page letter to parishioners of the Church of St. Joseph in St. Joseph, Minnesota. Marker’s letter listed 34 credibly accused clerics from nearby St. John’s Abbey.

“In my letter, I simply laid out the facts,” said Marker, “and for the most part, the facts were well-received by parishioners. The feedback has been 95% positive.”

But not from Rev. Jerome Tupa, the current pastor at the Church of St. Joseph. During mass on January 13, Rev. Tupa claimed that Marker’s letter was “libelous” and mostly contains “innuendo.” (Link to video:
http://www.behindthepinecurtain.com/tupavideo)

And last week, in the church bulletin, Rev. Tupa continued his false allegations. (Link to bulletin:
http://www.behindthepinecurtain.com/saintjosephbulletin)

“Patrick’s letter is brave, compassionate and accurate,” said David Clohessy of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priest. “He should be commended, not criticized. And Rev. Tupa should be disciplined for his deceitful remarks.”

On January 17, Marker wrote three high ranking church officials – Bishop John Kinney of the Diocese of St. Cloud (MN), Abbot John Klassen of St. John’s Abbey and Archbishop and Papal Nuncio Carlo Maria Vigano, Pope Benedict’s representative in the US – charging that Rev. Tupa slandered him. Marker is demanding an apology and Tupa’s resignation.

In his January 7th letter to parishioners, Marker also informed the families:

– Rev. Dan Ward and Rev. Othmar Hohmann are the eighth and ninth credibly accused priests from St. John’s to have worked at the Church of St. Joseph

– Officials at St. John’s Abbey – and the Diocese of Saint Cloud – have been aware of credible allegations against these two men for months.

– Neither the Abbey or Diocese have reached out to victims of either of these men, despite policies which require them to do so.

– Saint John’s Abbey’s own investigations produced a list of twenty-three credibly accused sexual predators. However, the Abbey has refused to release their names.

At least two of Rev. Othmar Hohmann’s victims, and three of Rev. Dan Ward’s victims, reported their abuse to the Abbey and Diocese, Marker says. And, according to Marker, each priest has at least two additional alleged victims who have yet to come forward. “These victims simply want the record to reflect the truth,” Marker said on Monday.

Marker has urged Catholic officials to announce the accusations against Rev. Ward and Rev. Hohmann at every church where they worked “so that those victims seeking validation receive it, and those in need of support and counseling have a number to call, should they desire.” And, Marker believes that the public has the right to know the identity of all twenty-three perpetrators.

“Patrick’s right – fully disclosing the names and whereabouts of every proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting cleric is the best way to keep kids safe and deter future cover ups,” said Clohessy.

“This is what Catholic officials have repeatedly promised to do. But most of them, tragically, remain as secretive about abuse and as reckless about safety as ever.”

View Article and Comments… Here

MN – Sex abuse victim wants priest to apologize and resign
POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON JANUARY 23, 2013 · FLAG

January 20, 2013
Church of St. Joseph

From the Pastor’s Desk

Dear Friends in Christ Jesus:

As I mentioned at last Sunday’s Masses, you deserve to hear the truth about the allegations raised in a letter many of you received from Mr. Patrick Marker. Pat Marker was abused by a member of my community while he was a student. The Abbey acknowledged the abuse inflicted by a member of the community, settled Mr. Marker’s claim and has tried to engage him in helping other victims. Mr. Marker has chosen a different path. He has dedicated himself to raising doubts and undermining the integrity of Abbey members, including those who are innocent of these horrendous actions.

Mr. Marker often uses innuendo and unsubstantiated claims in his attacks on innocent Abbey members, as he did in the letter he sent to parishioners. For example, he links my name with Jacob Wetterling and Josh Guimond. The facts are clear. I was in France at the time of the Jacob Wetterling kidnapping. While I was on campus when Josh Guimond disappeared, I did not personally know him. The families of these two victims have suffered enough without Mr. Marker recklessly raising issues that have no basis in fact. Mr. Marker’s letter does not deserve a point-by-point rebuttal. Suffice it to say that his allegations against me are an unwarranted and unjust attack on my reputation.

Saint John’s Abbey deeply regrets the pain and harm suffered by Mr. Marker and other victims of abuse. The Abbey has worked with victims who have come forward to help them in their healing. The policy of Saint John’s Abbey is to evaluate all credible claims about members of our community. We have enforced this policy consistently and rigorously. Our policy of evaluation and investigation has led us to painful truths about some members of our community. We have taken appropriate actions to sanction those who have abused and to assure that they will not be able to do so again.

I ask for your prayers and support as we go forward. Saint John’s Abbey and the Diocese of Saint Cloud have responded to the legitimate and authentic claims of sexual abuse and will continue to put the victims of abuse ahead of any other interest.

I wish you peace and blessings!

Fr. Jerome Tupa, OSB Pastor

Links:

January 7, 2013 “St. Joseph Letter”… Here

Video of Tupa’s Message to Parishioners on January 13, 2013… Here

View the entire January 20, 2013 bulletin… Here

Webmaster’s Response to Tupa’s Bulletin Message… Here

View Father Tupa’s January 20, 2013 entire bulletin message…. Here

Upon Further Review…

In his bulletin message, Father Tupa writes that Saint John’s tried to engage me in helping other victims. This is false. In 2002, I was asked to serve on the Abbey’s External Review Board as the result of a settlement between the Abbey and many victims. The Abbey did not initiate my participation. I resigned from the review board in 2006, when Abbot John Klassen refused to release the names of two monk perpetrators (Father Bruce Wollmering and Father Michael Bik) to the public.

In his bulletin message, Father Tupa writes that in the January 7 letter, his name was linked to Jacob Wetterling and Josh Guimond. This is false. A reference is made to Abbot Klassen’s concern that, “one of the offenders might be linked to the disappearance of Joshua Guimond, just as monks had been considered in the 1989 disappearance of Jacob Wetterling.” Abbot Klassen was concerned that Bruce Wollmering’s name would be linked to Joshua Guimond. Father Tom Gillespie, among others, was considered in the disappearance of Jacob Wetterling.

In his bulletin message, Father Tupa shares his whereabouts on the night of the Jacob Wetterling abduction. Suggesting that the January 7 letter required a response to such an outrageous allegation (Tupa’s involvement) is nothing more than a red herring.

In his bulletin message, Father Tupa writes that, “While I was on campus when Josh Guimond disappeared, I did not personally know him.”  Remember, the January 7 letter never linked Father Tupa to Joshua’s disappearance. Tupa does that, however, in his bulletin response.  Tupa admission that he was on campus when Joshua disappeared certainly doesn’t rule him out as a suspect. Also, whether or not Tupa “personally knew” Joshua is irrelevant to Joshua’s disappearance. Joshua was a junior at Saint John’s at the time of his disappearance. Father Tupa was reportedly one of Joshua Guimond’s resident advisors. Joshua was outspoken, involved and by some accounts, a leader. Tupa’s statement simply begs the question, “What does ‘personally know’ mean?”

In his bulletin message, Father Tupa writes that, “We have taken appropriate actions to sanction those who have abused and to assure that they will not be able to do so again.” It is irresponsible, to provide assurance that a sexual predator will not strike again. There are at least ten known predators at Saint John’s right now. It is by luck alone that none of these men has been caught reoffending on campus or on their many unsupervised travels.

In his bulletin message, Father Tupa writes that I have dedicated myself to, “raising doubts and undermining the integrity of Abbey members, including those who are innocent of these horrendous actions.” This is false. The Abbey has admitted to being the home to twenty-three men with credible claims of sexual misconduct — but they will not share the names of five of those perpetrators. They abbey refuses to release the names of Father Dan Ward and Father Othmar Hohmann. Any doubts raised have come from the actions of the Abbey and its individual predator monks.

My dedication, and this web site, serve to validate the stories of victims of misconduct. How many victims? Between them, Father Dunstan Moorse and Father Francisco have almost thirty alleged victims… so far. The Abbey has admitted to twenty-three monk offenders.  Simple math puts the number of victims at 345. When the abbey discloses the names of Father Ward and Father Hohmann, the estimated number will be 375. It is likely much higher, given Father Eckroth’s reign of terror at the cabins.

This web site, and my efforts, also serve as a tool in the restoration of the integrity of the Saint John’s community. Despite years of awareness, the process has only started. It will be a painful process. There will be much opposition and much blame. Some of that blame and frustration will be directed at the messenger.

In the end, I believe the truth will prevail.

False prophets like Father Tupa will not.

Patrick J Marker

Links:

January 7, 2013 “St. Joseph Letter”… Here

Video of Tupa’s Message to Parishioners on January 13, 2013… Here

View the January 20, 2013 bulletin… Here

Denis McDonough, 43, is widely known for his pivotal role as deputy national security adviser for the past two years, helping guide the U.S. military drawdown in Iraq and Afghanistan and the handling of the attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

But McDonough, who is expected to be named in the next several days, sources close to him say, has had a far-broader portfolio that includes developing political strategy and playing enforcer for those who stray from White House talking points.

More than any of Obama’s other chiefs of staff — Rahm Emanuel, William Daley and Jack Lew, who has been nominated to head the U.S. Treasury — McDonough is an Obama true believer who keeps an eye on burnishing his legacy, said those who have worked with him.

“Denis is one of the president’s closest advisers and friends,” said Michéle Flournoy, former undersecretary of defense for policy who left the Pentagon’s third-ranking job last year. “There are few people who know the president’s mind as well as Denis. He’s been with him through so many phases and situations. He’s very good at having a sense of how the president will view something or react to something or where he’s come down on a given issue.”

Administration officials cautioned that Obama has not made a final decision. But at a time when the president is facing intense Republican opposition, McDonough’s rise to the cusp of one of the most powerful positions in Washington suggests that Obama is intent on surrounding himself with loyalists for a more confrontational second term.

Emanuel, a former congressman, and Lew, a budget expert, were brought in to navigate Capitol Hill­­­­, and Daley was intended to be an ambassador to the business community. McDonough, by contrast, is expected to focus on the White House, ensuring that it is functioning in top form and speaking with one voice.

“He just lives there 24-7, he’s loyal, he keeps his mouth shut and he’s very disciplined,” said one administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal process.

A star high school football player in his native Minnesota, McDonough attended St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., and earned a master’s degree in foreign service at Georgetown University in 1996. Married with three children, he lives in Takoma Park and has been known to commute to the White House by bicycle.

McDonough worked on foreign policy for former senator Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) and followed him to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, in 2004. He joined Obama’s Senate staff in 2006 and was part of a tightly knit group of young, mostly male aides who formed the core of Obama’s 2008 campaign staff.

Celeste Wallander, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense, recalls McDonough being on the phone with her and other campaign advisers continually in August 2008, after war broke out in Georgia, formulating the response for a young senator who had little foreign policy experience.

“He wanted to hear ideas — what to do and say, what are the pros and cons,” said Wallander, now an associate professor at American University. “The team came together and was tested by fire.”

After Obama was elected, he made McDonough his chief foreign policy communications strategist, responsible for speech-writing and messaging. He was promoted two years ago to the No. 2 job at the National Security Council, where his close access to Obama has rankled other high-ranking officials.

Tall and slim, with deep-set eyes and short gray hair, McDonough was pictured sitting two seats to Obama’s left in a now-famous photograph of the president surrounded by top aides as they monitored the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

In his book “Obama’s Wars,” The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward reported that Gen. James L. Jones, a former national security adviser, considered Obama’s tight circle of aides, including McDonough, a “major obstacle” to developing coherent Afghan policy.

One person who worked closely with McDonough described in an interview with The Post frustration about his handling of meetings on the U.S. drawdown in Iraq, saying it became increasingly clear that Obama and McDonough already had decided to leave no residual forces in the country in 2012 despite ongoing internal debate.

More recently, some national security aides have lobbied since the November election to reopen the policy debate about U.S. sanctions on Syria to see if there is more the administration can do to stop the bloody government crackdown on rebel forces. But McDonough has blocked the attempts, saying the president believes U.S. policy is working, said the administration official who requested anonymity.

McDonough is known to carry White House notecards in his pockets, whipping them out to scribble messages during meetings and passing them around the room. Most of the notes are policy questions, but some can be mocking insults, said one official who has attended the meetings. He also is not averse to cursing at those who frustrate or anger him.

“The White House is a pressure cooker,” said Shawn Brimley, who served as director for strategic planning at the NSC from 2011 to 2012. “If he sees people hedging or a cover-your-[rear] mentality, he calls that out. It’s never personal.”

Jeffrey Bader, a former senior director of East Asian affairs at the NSC, said McDonough coordinated the massive U.S. response to the Japan tsunami in the spring of 2011. At one point, naval officials at the U.S. base in Yokosuka argued that the radiation threat was much more severe than the Japanese government had disclosed, setting up a potential diplomatic crisis.

Bader called McDonough at 2 a.m. and McDonough immediately sprang from bed and arranged for a scientific laboratory analysis of radiation levels that showed the Navy’s assessment was inaccurate.

“At 5 a.m., he gave the answer to stand down,” said Bader, now a fellow at the Brookings Institution. “It was politically difficult because we couldn’t be seen not standing behind the safety of American citizens or going against the Navy.”

McDonough’s influence extends beyond national security. A devout Catholic, he has served as something of an informal Obama counselor on religious matters, such as during last year’s debate over the White House’s handling of contraception rules under the new health-care law.

Some female staff members have said Obama’s inner circle of male advisers, including McDonough, acts like a jocular boys club that has excluded women. The issue has flared anew in recent weeks with the nominations of four white men to Obama’s Cabinet.

But Flournoy said McDonough has an empathetic side. She recalled requesting a high-level meeting, only to call him later that night asking to postpone after her son broke down in tears because she would have to miss a school event.

McDonough rescheduled and later presented her a goody bag filled with White House candy and a personal note for her son that said, “Thanks so much for sharing your mommy.”

“That was one of the most lovely things anyone has done for me in my time in government,” Flournoy said. “The human side of Denis really came through.”

Read Entire Article and View Comments… Here

Denis McDonough, loyal and trusted aide, to be Obama’s chief of staff
Washington Post
By David Nakamura
January 17, 2013

Letter to Bishop Kinney, Abbot Klassen and Archbishop Vigano
January 17, 2013 

Note: Letter was sent via email on January 17.  Also sent via US Mail… Track

View letter as a PDF…. Here

The Most Rev. John F. Kinney
Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud
214, 3rd Avenue South
Saint Cloud, Minnesota, 56301

CC: Abbot John Klassen, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano

Bishop Kinney,

Included, please find a copy of my January 7, 2013 letter to residents in and around St. Joseph (hereinafter “The St. Joseph Letter”).

The St. Joseph Letter was sent after multiple requests that the parishioners at the Church of Saint Joseph be notified regarding credible allegations of misconduct by two former priests (Father Dan Ward and Father Othmar Hohmann) who served at that parish. These requests were ignored.

By this letter, I renew my request to both you and Abbot Klassen that these perpetrators’ names be announced in every parish where they served (including the Church of Saint Joseph) so that those victims seeking validation receive it, and those in need of support and counseling have a number to call, should they desire.

The St. Joseph Letter also addressed concern regarding the abbey’s refusal to release the names and actions of the five perpetrators referred to (but not named) on the abbey’s web site.

It is important to note that based on the abbey’s own “rigorous investigations”, there have been twenty-three (23) sexual predators within the monastery! The public, and the victims, deserve full disclosure regarding these predators. For some reason, the abbot is withholding this information.

By this letter, I renew my request to both you and Abbot Klassen release the names of the five additional perpetrators that the abbey refers to on their web site (screen shot attached), but fails to identify.

During the 10am mass on Sunday, January 13, 2013, Father Tupa addressed The St. Joseph Letter.

A video of Father Tupa’s statement is here:

http://www.behindthepinecurtain.com/tupavideo

Father Tupa claimed, in front of a church full of people that “the majority of the letter is filled with innuendo and simply libelous puff.”

Father Tupa knowingly lied to a congregation of Catholics attending mass in a diocesan building. Father Tupa knowingly defamed me. Father Tupa proved that he is willing go to any length, including slander, to cover-up decades of misconduct by members of the Saint John’s and (now) diocesan communities.

By this letter, I am requesting that you (and/or Abbot Klassen) review the attached letter with Father Tupa and, together, mark the majority of the letter to which Father Tupa will swear, under the pains and penalty of perjury, contains either innuendo or libel.

The letter contains 1289 words in 19 paragraphs and the names of 34 accused monks. A majority will reflect 645 words, 10 paragraphs and/or 17 accused named.

When Father Tupa fails at this task, please draft a letter of apology to me — and then draft and distribute a letter announcing that Father Jerome Tupa has resigned his position as pastor of the Church of Saint Joseph. By this letter, I am requesting that both letters be drafted and sent.

By this letter, I am requesting that an apology from Father Tupa and his superiors appear in this week’s bulletin.

Certainly, the intent of The St. Joseph Letter was clear: Full disclosure regarding recent allegations.

You and Abbot Klassen have received multiple, credible, detailed statements from victims of sexual misconduct by Father Dan Ward. Not a single victim came forward with a request of financial compensation. Further, Ward’s victims had nothing to gain by coming forward. They simply wanted the truth known in order to support other victims. You and Abbot Klassen have kept this truth from being shared, and kept potential victims (who might benefit from financial, counseling or pastoral assistance) from having their experiences validated so that they, too, might come forward.

You and Abbot Klassen have similarly received at least one credible, detailed, written, allegation of misconduct regarding Father Othmar Hohmann.

You and Abbot Klassen were also forwarded an email with a statement by [Redacted], another of Father Hohmann’s victims. Certainly, you and Father Klassen are familiar with the  [Redacted] family and their place in the history of both the Church of Saint Joseph and Saint John’s.  [Redacted]

Despite the abbot’s persistent claims that I lack credibility, I have already shared that third woman, revered by many in the Church of Saint Joseph community, contacted me regarding sexual abuse by Father Hohmann some time ago.

Please know that since Sunday, I have been contacted by one additional victim of Father Hohmann.

To review, I am requesting, by this letter:

1. Father Dan Ward’s and Father Othmar Hohmann’s names be announced in every parish where they served (including the Church of Saint Joseph) so that those victims seeking validation receive it, and those in need of support and counseling have a number to call, should they desire.

2. The diocese and abbey release the names of the five additional perpetrators that the abbey refers to on their web site (screen shot attached), but fails to identify.

3. The St. Joseph Letter be reviewed with Father Tupa and, together, request that Father Tupa mark the majority of the letter to which he will swear, under the pains and penalty of perjury, contains either innuendo or libel.

4. When #3 (above) fails, a letter of apology from Father Tupa be sent to me.

5. A letter announcing that Father Jerome Tupa has resigned his position as pastor of the Church of Saint Joseph be sent to the parishioners of the Church of Saint Joseph.

6. Apology language from Father Tupa and his superiors to me and to the parishioners at the Church of Saint Joseph appear in this week’s bulletin.

Time of the essence. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I swear, under the pains and penalties of perjury, that the information I have provided on these pages is true, to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Sincerely,

Patrick J. Marker

Nathan Libaire

Father Nathan Libaire, former Saint John’s Abbey monk and the current pastor at Saint John The Baptist Catholic Church in Santa Fe, New Mexico has reportedly been welcoming one of Saint John’s Abbey’s most abusive perpetrators, Father Dunstan Moorse, to his parish yearly, for over a decade.

Father Nathan Libaire left Saint John’s Prep School abruptly in the early 1990s. No reason was provided to his co-workers.

Moorse (Right)

Father Dunstan Moorse is one of 18 monks identified by Abbot John Klassen in a 2011 letter as having credible allegations of sexual misconduct made against him.

In 2012, the abbey’s web site reflected that “rigorous investigations deemed that allegations of sexual abuse or misconduct* against 23 members of the Abbey were credible.”

It is possible that Father Nathan Libaire is among the yet-no-be-disclosed five additional perpetrators identified by the abbey.

According to a former monk:

Nathan Libaire received counseling in New Mexico following allegations of misconduct involving one or more high school students in the early 90′s. Tom Andert was reportedly  aware of the allegations.

Update: In a followup email on January 17, 2013, the former monk shared:

Nathan told me when he was back for a community retreat.  Nathan said that this was going to be his last trip to Saint John’s and that he was meeting with the Abbot.

And a former co-worker of Father Libaire’s shared this on January 17, 2013:

I have no doubt that Nathan Libaire was up to something in the early 1990′s with [Student's Name Redacted].  That gay young man loved him, and I recall clearly a day where he was tearfully running through the prep school, yelling, “Have you seen Father Nathan?” to anyone within earshot.  Something was going on there, I was there and saw it.  This was going on while Andert was working over [Student's Name Redacted].   Read Father Tom Andert’s Love Letter’s… Here.

Back to Moorse…

Father Moorse first became familiar with the Santa Fe area in 1986. Moorse was sent for counseling with Dr. Alex Quenk but lied to his therapist — and attended graduate school — instead of addressing his desire to masturbate and sodomize young men.

According to a case heard before the STATE OF MINNESOTA IN COURT OF APPEALS:

Documents dated between 1984 and 1987 reflect church officials’ concern over complaints of sexual misconduct against Moorse and question whether Moorse should continue teaching. In September 1986, Moorse left St. John’s and was transferred to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. In 1987, Moorse returned to Minnesota and became an instructor at Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School in St. Louis Park.

Despite his tendencies and horrific trail of victims, Moorse is allowed travel as he desires.

According to Moorse’s 2012 Christmas letter:

A couple of vacations, one to Santa Fe and one to Michigan, several weeks at the monastery cabins mainly to clean and get them ready for the monks to use and one or the other to do dried flower card work. 

Who is supervising this sexual predator in Michigan, New Mexico and at the cabins?

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe has not responded to a request for more information.

Father Tupa’s January 13, 2013 Message:

I want to begin by addressing a letter that many of you received this, uh, past week from a Mr. Marker. I want you to know that there are things in there that are, are, uh, known and did take place, however, the majority of the letter is filled with innuendo and simply libelous puff. I am going to address this in the, more completely in the next bulletin. Now then, let’s get on to the real business at hand. The real business, of course is baptism!

Father Tupa, like his superior Abbot John Klassen and Bishop John Kinney, failed to address recent credible allegations against two priests (Father Dan Ward and Father Othmar Hohmann) who worked at the Church of Saint Joseph.

A letter regarding the false allegations (of innuendo and libelous puff) made at mass by Father Tupa  will be sent shortly.

Father Tupa’s January 13, 2013 Message:

I want to begin by addressing a letter that many of you received this, uh, past week from a Mr. Marker. I want you to know that there are things in there that are, are, uh, known and did take place, however, the majority of the letter is filled with innuendo and simply libelous puff. I am going to address this in the, more completely in the next bulletin. Now then, let’s get on to the real business at hand. The real business, of course is baptism!

View “St. Joseph Letter”… Here

Letter to Diocese Regarding Father Tupa… Here

Video of Father Tupa’s Message… Here

I am writing on behalf of my 97-year-old mother, [Name Withheld]. Receiving your letter of January 7 was distressing to her and I ask that you remove her name from your listing of parishioners of St. Joseph’s Parish, St. Joseph, Minnesota.

Thank you for compiling and sharing this. It expresses many of the same concerns that I, and others have, especially now that the priest serving the parish is Fr. Jerome Tupa. I’m aware of families that have left the parish because of their concerns, but many remain ignorant.

Thank you for sending this to me. Just stunning to read.

Dress warmly for Sunday in St. Joe… The forecasted high is 9 degrees! Thank you for your bravery!  Lets hope anyone who hasn’t yet come forward and wants to will do so soon.  It’s time to bring closure to this topic for all parties concerned, including you!

This needs to happen, and I can’t offer you anything but encouragement…. Don’t stop your work ever…the Abbey needs to be held to account. Were I able, I would summon the Vatican for an investigation. They should be shuttered.

There’s so much to do, but I’ve never been more clear about what I must do in my whole life.

Pat this is a bold service. Keep up the good work.

That is an excellent letter. I think it may encourage what are likely to be a much larger number of survivors and their families to break their silence . On the other hand people are adept at protecting themselves from the knowledge of these horrors by denial of what has happened and what is continuing to happen and by displacing their anger on the messenger.

Update Father Jerome Tupa responded to the letter during mass on January 13.

Update: Sexual Misconduct and the Church of Saint Joseph, MN
January 7, 2013

The purpose of this letter is to make you aware of recent claims of sexual and other misconduct perpetrated by members of the Saint John’s Abbey community and other personnel (bold names, below) who served the parishioners in St. Joseph. The most recent claims were forwarded to Bishop Kinney and Abbot John Klassen last year. Kinney and Klassen, however, have chosen to keep you in the dark.

Over a dozen accused religious and other personnel have served the parish in St. Joseph. You, your parents, your children or one of your friends may have been victimized by one of these individuals.

It is my hope that this letter will lead to honest conversation within your family and with your insistence, will lead, finally, to full disclosure by Saint John’s. However, members of the Saint John’s community, including Abbot Klassen and Father Jerome Tupa, by their actions, seem to oppose full disclosure.

Why is full disclosure important? In 2010, I was contacted by a woman who shared her story of sexual abuse by a monk from Saint John’s. Twenty years earlier, I spoke with her brother about the misconduct he experienced at the hands of a different monk from Saint John’s. To this day, neither is aware of the other’s abuse. Nor did the siblings’ parents know of their abuse. The siblings’ parents are buried at the Saint John’s Abbey Cemetery. They, like you, deserved to know the truth before they made that choice.

As a former parishioner in St. Joseph and a survivor of sexual misconduct by a monk at Saint John’s, I am writing this letter because Bishop John Kinney (Diocese of Saint Cloud) and Abbot John Klassen (Saint John’s Abbey) have failed to provide the parishioners in St. Joseph with information regarding multiple credible (and very recent) allegations of sexual misconduct by two former priests at the parish.

Recently, three women shared with me their allegations of sexual misconduct against Father Othmar Hohmann. Hohmann served at the parish in St. Joseph from 1961-1966. One of these women provided a notarized statement to Bishop Kinney in late November. Her statement was forwarded to Abbot Klassen. The second woman’s name and emailed statement were provided to both Kinney and Klassen in mid-December. A third woman shared her story with me but, because of her standing within the community, has decided to remain anonymous at this time.

Since October of 2012, two men and one woman have provided notarized statements alleging sexual misconduct by Father Dan Ward. Ward served at the parish in St. Joseph in 1996 after he replaced Father Tom Gillespie, who had been removed when allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced. Despite multiple credible allegations of sexual misconduct, Ward retains all of his priestly faculties and serves as the executive director of RCRI in Maryland. Ward, a canon lawyer, has defended many religious accused of sexual misconduct, including Father Dunstan Moorse (more on Moorse later) back in the early 1990s.

Mr. Matthew Feeney, who admitted to molesting children in the 1990s while serving as youth minister in St. Joseph, is scheduled to appear in a Washington County courtroom on January 25, 2013. He is charged with engaging in sexual contact with a 9-year-old boy and for abusing a 15-year-old boy.

Parishioners in St. Joseph may also be familiar with Michael Weber. Weber was a seminarian at St. John’s and a deacon with the Diocese of Saint Cloud. He has been accused of molesting at least sixteen children. According to Mary Jo Hughes, Michael Weber’s therapist knew of Weber’s issues with pedophilia when the therapist (Dan Carle) allowed Weber to share a tent with a young boy. Carle remains a counselor.

The bold names in this letter denote men who have served the parishioners in St. Joseph. You may recognize many of non-bold names in the lists below, including the two abbots, both of whom have credible allegations of misconduct made against them. If I have missed something, please let me know.

As part of a settlement with multiple victims in March of 2011, Saint John’s Abbey agreed to send a letter containing the names of eighteen monks who had been credibly accused of sexual misconduct:

Br. Andre Bennett
Br. Isaac Connolly
Fr. Richard Eckroth
Fr. Thomas Gillespie
Br. John Kelly
Fr. Brennan Maiers
Fr. Dunstan Moorse
Fr. Cosmas Dahlheimer
Fr. Michael Bik
Fr. Francisco Schulte
Fr. Allen Tarlton
Abbot John Eidenschink
Fr. Fran Hoefgen
Br. Steven Lilly
Fr. Finian McDonald
Fr. Bruce Wollmering
Fr. James Kelly
Br. Jim Phillips

Note: 10 of these perpetrators remain at the Abbey, free to walk campus and travel with little restriction.

As part of the 2011 settlement, the letter was posted and was to remain on the Abbey’s web site. However, during the summer of 2012, the Abbey removed the letter. The Abbey, however, updated the site to read: “… rigorous investigations deemed that allegations of sexual abuse or misconduct against 23 members of the Abbey were credible.” Who are the other five perpetrators of sexual misconduct?

Over the past twenty years, I have spoken with more than 100 victims of misconduct by monks and other personnel at Saint John’s. Each of the men listed below has at least one credible allegation of misconduct made against him. Saint John’s has settled complaints against at least four of these individuals.

Fr. Tom Andert
Fr. Daniel Ward
Fr. Mel Taylor
Fr. Dominic Keller
Fr. Peregrin Berres
Br. Robert Burke
Fr. Othmar Hohmann
Fr. Agustine Cerezo Murillo
Fr. Robert Blumeyer
Fr. Mathias Faue
Fr. Howard Oak Mossier
Abbot Timothy Kelly
Br. Paschal Brisson
Fr. Alban Fruth
Fr. Aloysius Michaels
Fr. Jerome Tupa

Also, please be aware that court cases are currently underway in California and Minnesota regarding claims that Saint John’s engaged in wrongful fundraising activities. I had the opportunity to hear testimony in 2012. The cases should be of interest to anyone whose parents left money to Saint John’s.

My name is Patrick Marker. While attending Saint John’s Prep in the early 1980s, I was sexually molested by Father Dunstan Moorse. When Moorse and Saint John’s failed to take responsibility, a lawsuit was filed. I told my story publicly (as “John Doe”) for the first time on August 7, 1991. In 1992, with an understanding that I would have input into the abuse policies at Saint John’s, a settlement was reached.

Over the next ten years, I continued to research, advocate and listen. In 2002, I created a web site to disseminate information. In 2002, as part of a settlement between Saint John’s and several victims, an External Review Board was created. I was asked to serve on that board — and was asked to take down the web site. I complied. For three years, I flew from Seattle to Minnesota to attend monthly board meetings.

In 2005, Abbot John Klassen admitted that he had withheld information from the board regarding two monk offenders. By 2006, Klassen still refused to make public the offenders’ names because of the effect that such an announcement would have on the capital campaign and enrollment. Klassen was also concerned that one of the offenders might be linked to the disappearance of Joshua Guimond, just as monks had been considered in the 1989 disappearance of Jacob Wetterling.

In response to Abbot Klassen’s deception, I resigned from the External Review Board in 2006 and created a web site (www.behindthepinecurtain.com) to hold Saint John’s accountable – and to validate the stories of victims of misconduct. Please feel free to visit the site and provide whatever input you desire.

I will return to St. Joseph this weekend. I look forward to meeting you after mass. If you wish to speak privately, feel free to contact me via telephone (360-421-5849) or email (patrickmarker@gmail.com).

Very Sincerely,

Patrick J Marker

View as PDF… Here

January 7, 2013
Update: Sexual Misconduct and the Church of Saint Joseph, MN
Sent via US Mail on January 7, 2012 to 1100+ households in St. Joseph, MN

In light of the increase and the abbey’s continual lack of transparency, is this really a good idea for Fr. Anthony Ruff to parade high school kids around this anonymous group of sexual deviants?

The choir worships together as a group with the Benedictine monks on campus and with the Benedictine sisters in nearby St. Joseph and conclude each day by singing Compline.

According to the Diocese of Salt Lake City web site:

National Catholic Youth Choir — June 17 – July 2, is seeking Catholic high school students entering grades 10, 11 and 12 in fall of 2013 to audition for the 2013 camp and multi-state concert tour. Camp is at Saint John’s Abbey and University, Collegeville, Minn. The cost is $900 (scholarships available, includes meals, lodging and tour expenses). Apply online at www.CatholicYouthChoir.org or visit the website for information. [ View ]

About the Choir:

The National Catholic Youth Choir (NCYC) [ Web Site] was founded in 2000, by  program director Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB, is sponsored by Saint John’s School of Theology·Seminary, and meets on the grounds of Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota. The choir began under the mottoSpreading the Catholic Faith Through Great Music as a response to the call of Pope John Paul II for a “new evangelization.”  The choir sings music of various Christian traditions, ranging from medieval Gregorian chant to twentieth-century music and is led by choral conductor, Dr. Axel Theimer. The primary focus of the choir is liturgical. NCYC seeks to implement the directive of Vatican Council II that the “treasury of sacred music” be preserved and fostered in the modern liturgy.

Up to 45 students entering grades 10, 11, and 12 from across the United States are selected to participate in the choir based on written applications, formal recommendations, and recorded auditions.  The summer camp generally takes place the last two weeks in June and includes extensive choir rehearsals, repertoire–based classes in religion, music theory, and/or music history, recreation, recording a CD, and daily prayer. The choir worships together as a group with the Benedictine monks on campus and with the Benedictine sisters in nearby St. Joseph and conclude each day by singing Compline. The choristers receive cantor training as encouragement for music ministry in their home parishes and throughout their adult life.  The two week camp includes a multi-state concert tour with up to seven performances.  In past years the choir has sung throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Michigan, Indiana, and Georgia.

If your parish is interested in hosting a concert performance please contact dkantor@csbsju.edu.

The registration fee for 2013 is $900 (less than $57 per day) and includes all meals, lodging and travel during camp and the multi-state concert tour; travel expenses to and from home are not included. Scholarships up to $400, based on financial need, are available.

Once accepted participants are encouraged to seek financial assistance through their school, parish council or board, parish women and mens groups such as the Knights of Columbus and youth organizations. These groups, school and/or parish often agree to make a donation or to help raise funds by sponsoring a pancake breakfast, spaghetti dinner, bake sale or garage sale. Local, regional and state art organizations/boards may have grants or scholarships available to help with registration fees or travel expenses. Local businesses may also be willing to assist if asked. NCYC is happy to list any organization, business or donor in the annual concert program and on the NCYC website.

Two days later, on November 14, 2012,  Dino Costa interviewed a local sportswriter regarding Saint John’s football coach John Gagliardi. When the topic turned to the sportswriter’s knowledge of what Gagliardi knew about sexual misconduct on campus, the sportswriter, not surprisingly, had nothing to offer. Apparently, the question had never been asked, despite the fact that 1) Gagliardi had repeatedly commented on misconduct at Penn State and 2) at least twenty-three individuals at Saint John’s had been credibly accused of sexual misconduct.

Five days later, on November 19, 2012, John Gagliardi announced his retirement as coach of the Saint John’s University football team.

A new date will be posted soon.

Fr. Jerome Tupa

How different might Saint John’s had been if monks like Father Jerome Tupa left the monastery to pursue their own selfish pleasures and allowed individuals such as these two men, who were called to monastic life, remain! 

How many good men did Father Tupa drive from religious life?

Letter to Reverend Robert Rolfes, Diocese of Saint Cloud

December 12, 2012

Reverend Robert Rolfes, J.C.L.
Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud
214 3rd Avenue South
Saint Cloud, Minnesota, 56301

Rev. Rolfes,

Toward the end of our November 16, 2012 telephone conversation we discussed a hypothetical situation in which a young seminarian is driven from religious life due, in part, to the sexual overtures offered by an ordained priest within the diocese.

When I asked how the Diocese of Saint Cloud would handle such a report, you said that once you received a credible allegation of such misconduct you would, at a bare minimum, have the priest evaluated at St. Luke’s. By this letter, I wish to make you aware of misconduct similar to that which we discussed.

In early June of 2010, I met with a gentleman who had been called to religious life in the late 1980s.  He reported to me that he left the religious life, in part, due to the sexual overtures offered by an ordained priest twenty-six years his senior.

The priest was Father Jerome Tupa, a monk from Saint John’s Abbey who is currently pastor at Saint Joseph Parish, a parish of the Diocese of Saint Cloud. The parish, as you are well aware, is located in Saint Joseph, MN. The former religious was a young monk who I shall refer to in this letter as “Kenneth” but whose true identity I hope to share with you later this week via telephone.

According to my contemporaneous notes from the visit, Kenneth approached the Father Tupa for spiritual counseling after his counselor left the abbey, presumably for issues involving misconduct.

During the course of his “counseling” with father Tupa, Kenneth became “disappointed.” He described Tupa’s actions as “shady” and commented that Tupa had “more on his agenda” and showed an interest in a relationship with Kenneth that went “beyond a brotherly monk kind of interest.”

After only a few counseling sessions it became obvious to Kenneth that Tupa wanted to be involved in, according to Kenneth, a “let’s me more than friends experience.” At the time of our meeting/conversation in 2010, I did not ask Kenneth for additional details regarding the specifics of the alleged.

Kenneth’s stay at the monastery was a short one. He is listed in only one ordo, the yearly publication that lists all monks at a given abbey.

After his interaction with Tupa, Kenneth shared that the spiritual side of his religious experience began to unravel.

In an email dated June 30, 2010, approximately two weeks after our visit, Kenneth wrote:

“… my memories of those days are negative ones. There certainly seemed to be a great deal of ‘sexual’ tension and many of the monks seemed to have agendas aside from monastic brotherhood. As a young man and monk I ended up very confused about the whole experience. Upon leaving the monastery all those years ago I have never returned to the Catholic church. Although still a ‘believer’ I’ve just never gone back.”

Please keep in mind that this was written by a man who once felt a calling to religious life. Tragic.

After our conversation in November, Father Rolfes, I contacted another former monk from Saint John’s Abbey regarding additional alleged misconduct by Father Tupa. This former monk shared that while still in the monastery, he consoled a monk who had experienced “boundary issues” with Father Jerome Tupa. That monk, whose identity has been made known to me, also left the monastery. Like Kenneth, the monk was listed in only one ordo.

How different might Saint John’s had been if monks like Father Jerome Tupa left the monastery to pursue their own selfish pleasures and allowed individuals such as these two men, who were called to monastic life, remain!  How many good men did Father Tupa drive from religious life?

While these allegations of misconduct should be enough for the diocese to reconsider Father Jerome Tupa’s current assignment, I am compelled to bring additional information to your attention.

As a parent, former educator, and former parishioner, I find it wholly inappropriate for a priest to be actively displaying and selling artwork depicting naked women while simultaneously ministering to a congregation that includes so many impressionable children – and has lived the trauma of its long history of sexual misconduct and deceit perpetrated by the Tupa’s own monastic brothers.

The image to the left is currently available in Father Tupa’s online gallery.

Any argument regarding the “artistic” elements of Father Tupa’s work and style could easier by countered by claims that that this and other of his works are simply “pornography.”

Image Source: https://eelement.appolis.com/jerometupa/eproddetail.asp?S=128&P=8120&PubID=4463&V=26&PID=5786

In his current role as pastor at Saint Joseph Parish, Father Tupa also acts as confessor and spiritual counselor. I do not believe that the diocese can afford to take that risk.

The parishioners in Saint Joseph do not deserve yet another scandal. They have been dealing with scandal for over 50 years.

As you are aware, the Diocese of Saint Cloud has recently received several notarized statements regarding allegations of sexual misconduct by two priests, Father Othmar Hohmann or Father Dan Ward, dating back to the early 1960s. Both men served as pastor at Saint Joseph Parish.

Yet, despite these statements, the Diocese of Saint Cloud has failed to notify the parishioners of reported misconduct by either Father Hohmann or Father Ward. This is the same tactic used by the diocese in 1996 when Thomas Gillespie was removed from the parish.

Father Gillespie, you are no doubt aware, spent time with the Wetterling family following Jacob’s disappearance in [1989]. While some saw Gillespie’s actions as oddly “involved” Father Tupa took an opposite tact following the disappearance of Joshua Guimond in 2002. Any investigation into misconduct by Father Tupa should include interviews with members of the Guimond family.

It is not surprising that Father Tupa has stood in the way of honest and open dialog regarding issues of sexual and other misconduct for some time. In an email from May of 2011, Father Tupa suggested “the advisor to the Record should be admonished and then replaced” following an article in the Record (The Saint John’s University Student Newspaper) regarding sexual misconduct by members of the abbey community. By the end of the year, the Record’s advisor was replaced.

Finally, please note that Saint Joseph Parish was the last parish I regularly attended.  It was while a parishioner at Saint Joseph Parish that I was molested at the Prep School by Father Dunstan Moorse, a monk from Saint John’s Abbey.

It is precisely because of my own background and my understanding of the parish’s history that I bring these matters to your attention, and that I ask you to bring these same matters to the attention of the good people of Saint Joseph.

I swear, under the pains and penalties of perjury, that the information I have provided on these pages is true, to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Sincerely,

Patrick J. Marker

I am now living in NW Massachusetts and am an artist residing in a live/work loft building dedicated to practicing artists. I have grown much stronger since the time we first communicated with each other when I still identified mostly as a mentally ill patient and my life revolved around very intense and distressing therapy. I had moved to Philadelphia following a hospitalization precipitated by suicide attempts, and I worked for 8 hours a week for 7 years with a psychiatrist who specialized in treating severe child sexual abuse victims.

Both of my parents have now passed away and so I have little to lose by telling my story publicly and attaching my real name – which would be very recognizable to many readers. My mother was very much involved with the prep school, as were my many siblings who attended the school, and I think that adding my real name to the victim list would be an especially important part of not just my own ‘coming out,’ but that it might help others to tell their story as well. I am not afraid anymore.

Let me know how I can help. Also, please send my deepest gratitude to this woman who courageously come forward with her truth in a world of lies and coverup. You are welcome to forward this email to her.

You are doing a great service for countless fearful victims, and I am heartened to see that you do not give up on this quest. I check out your website every month or so, and coincidentally, I had visited the site earlier today, before I got your email message.

Thank you so much for letting me know about this new development toward exposing truth in the face of discomfort and secrecy and coverup; and also let me know if I can contribute anything else to your fight against deceit and denial. It’s very important to me to battle against the forces of coverup and shame, and the ‘don’t-say-anything-and-it-will-go-away’ thinking or the ‘priests-don’t-do-that’ disbelief that is so harming. I had a childhood filled with double-think. Much of my adulthood has been lost to unraveling the lies and unfounded shame.

Now I am a tenacious fighter and I’m somewhat amazed that I have survived this long after all the betrayals and consequent losses mostly stemming from these early childhood abuses.

Thank you for your dedication and perseverance.

Louise LaFond

[Webmaster's Note: Louise suggested that I post her letter to the web site. She is one of three women who have come forward with allegations of misconduct by Father Othmar Hohmann, OSB. Father Hohmann was pastor at St. Joseph Parish from 1961 to 1966.]

As an Alumnus of St. John’s, I and many of my fellow Alumni are greatly disturbed by Mr. Gagliardi’s similarities to Mr. Paterno – specifically Mr. Gagliardi’s knowledge of sexual abuse and sexual misconduct at St. John’s. Mr. Gagliardi, the St. John’s Abbey and St. John’s University are well aware of the accusations, the incidents and the specific names of victims and perpetrators. These issues are about young men’s lives and futures, not a coach’s record.

I do not know and have never met Patrick Marker. I am , however, very familiar with his website, behindthepinecurtain.com

The painstaking and painful work done by Mr. Marker is incredibly shocking and disturbing. Unfortunately, it is also very credible, corroborated and substantiated. One can only assume that those who idolize and want to Canonize Mr. Gagliardi, simply do not know the truth. The truth about the Coach, the University and the Abbey.

It appears as though the St. Paul Pioneer Press and other media outlets have chosen not to disclose damning information, or, they have done a shallow and superficial job of reporting on activities that may well have led to the demise of the St. John’s Football program. Perhaps many smart, talented and athletically gifted young men with a variety of choices of institutions, know more about St. John’s than anyone realizes? Anyone knowing the truth would certainly avoid St. John’s.

Changing Coaches accomplishes nothing. A high profile coach will not change the underlying problems associated with St. John’s – Nor will the stark reality of what St. John’s has become change as a result of “Teacher and Coach” Gagliardi stepping down.

As a St. John’s Alumnus, I am often asked about my experience at St. John’s. Although I received an outstanding education, I can not and will not recommend St. John’s to anyone. Until the Abbey and University engage in a meaningful and honest dialog to bring about change, there is no way I and others can provide any type of support to anything associated with the University or the Abbey. Protecting young people’s lives is far more important than any coach, program or win / loss record.

For obvious reasons, I wish to remain anonymous, but feel compelled to bring this information to light.

Letter to The Edition of TwinCities.com
[Name provided but withheld by Webmaster]
Apple Valley, MN
December 4, 2012

November 26, 2012

Bishop John Kinney
214 3rd Ave. South, PO Box 1248
Diocese of St. Cloud
St. Cloud, MN 56302

I am writing to bring to your attention my experience with my past sexual abuse at the hands of Father Othmar Hohmann, a priest who, although from St. John’s Abbey, served in a Diocesean-supervised church (as I understand it). Although I attempted to follow through on this once before, I regretfully didn’t have the courage to come forward as I am now, over 50 years later. I want to bring facts into the light of day, out of the dark recesses of the past. I know that Father Othmar died in 1980, and the Statute of Limitations prevents me from bringing charges. Yet I still want it to be known what happened to me, so that I may bring closure to this topic and to bring forward my story forward so others who may have been victims can come forth and find healing also. The issue of clergy sexual abuse is a sad but huge part of the history of humanity on this planet, one in which I have participated as a victim. By coming forward I hope for healing and growth for all parties concerned.

The priest who I knew as Father Othmar Hohmann of the Benedictan Order visited our home in St. Joseph, MN one summer when I was about 5-6 years old in 1960-61. ( Don’t recall exactly which year…) Father Othmar would come to visit and sit in the kitchen, talking for a long time to my mother. My father was working. My mother was a busy lady and so eventually she would leave the room to fold laundry, attend to my little brother in the other room, clean something, etc. The priest seemed to overextend his stay, much to my mother’s irritation. Fr. Othmar would always tell me how sweet I was and how much he liked to hold me and he would ask mom if he could hold me. She said this was fine. In her mind it was likely an honor when the parish priest would visit as well as show appreciation for her daughter. While she was gone in the other parts of the house, Father Othmar would set me on his lap, press my body against his, force me to kiss him on the lips and cheeks, and quietly rape me. As a young girl, I didn’t understand why he was breathing so heavy, sweating, and seemed so excited. After going through this for 10-15 minutes, my mother would return into the room. He would quickly then excuse himself and leave. This occurred maybe 4-5 times. After the last incident, I felt so upset, strange, and frightened that I told my mom after he left what he did. When Father Othmar came to visit again, my mother would not let me get close to him. So he stopped visiting.

But nothing was ever said about what happened and our family continued to treat Father Othmar with the respect due the parish priest. Every Sunday I had to sit in the pew with my family and honor him as the powerful representative of God elevated before us on the altar. And I had to go to the Confessional as a young girl and be alone with him in the dark closet and tell him the sins of a young child! Could mine ever come close to his?!! And sometimes, over the next 5-6 years, he would grab me, hug me, and kiss me in an overly affectionate manner (that I detested), even when there were other people around. He acted as if he was the jolly parish priest who loved children. Since he put on such well-loved community plays using so many children, the parish folk thought he was just a wonderful guy who loved children so much. For example, I was in the play “Hansel and Gretel” which he directed and produced. I stayed away from him as much as I could, but never talked of what Fr. Othmar did to me until I was in my 30’s. Then I saw a counselor about this to begin release the secrecy, denial, and confusion I had lived with.

This experience with Fr. Othmar was very disturbing to me and affected my life in my ways, as did many other aspects of my Catholic experience. I developed a lot of mistrust of people with authority. I stopped going to church when I was 18. I experienced a lot of inner turmoil. I was diagnosed with bulima, an eating disorder linked to high internal anxiety.

There were some positives in my Catholic upbringing, such as the emphasis on service, love of God and family, education, and community involvement. And there were many clergy (priests and nuns) who were kind, helpful, and respectful. I am very appreciative of these people who touched my life. However, the Father Othmar experience triggered a sense of mistrust, anger, and skepticism in the Catholic Church. It began the start of my education in “the inner workings” of the Church. Something seemed really murky below the illusion of ritual, hierarchy, sincerity, and material splendor. I began to question and research the Church in high school and began to learn that there was much deceit, corruption and hypocrisy that I had been raised with in the Catholic Church. When I moved away to another state, I realized I could still experience community, caring, and honor God without needing to be a Catholic. And I learned I could live with a much greater sense of honesty, integrity, and freedom of expression. But there was a great harm and injustice that was done to me by a priest as a young girl that has never been accounted for. I also am aware of several other women who have been abused by Father Othmar in a similar manner. Thus this letter.

[Paragraph Redacted]

You may also send a copy of this to Abbot John Klassen and discuss this with him, but as St. Joseph parish is under the supervision of the Diocese of St. Cloud, I would like a response from you or jointly from both of you to address this matter. Please do not redirect me to Abbot Klassen of St. John’s Abbey. My impression from talking to others who have sent letters to the Abbey is that they do not sometimes provide an appropriate response and sometimes there is no response at all. I am hoping you will be more responsive. I appreciate any assistance you can provide on this matter.

Sincerely,

[Name Provided by Redacted by Webmaster]

“I swear, under the pains and penalties of perjury, that the information I have provided on these three pages is true, and to the best of my knowledge and belief.”

[Document was notarized on November 26, 2012]

[Webmaster's Note: Except when you know the truth about Gagliardi, that is.]

[Webmaster's Note: At least one reader wrote a response to Jeffrey Ayer's letter.]

Teacher and Coach
TwinCities.com
December 3, 2012

With the retirement of the now officially legendary John Gagliardi, as a St. John’s University alum (’97) I am greatly saddened that despite this man’s clear credentials, pressures surfaced this fall calling for him to do so. And while it is painfully clear that health ailments contributed to this dear man’s decision, one may only wonder at how much of that was predicated by unnecessarily rigid stressors caused by unwieldy questions coming from “fans,” alumni, SJU officials, and worse yet, by matter-of-fact, scrutinizing journalists.

In a nation where the character of coaches has been rightfully brought under great scrutiny, from a secretive Joe Paterno at Penn State to the recently suspended college basketball coach at Morehead State for his brash behavior involving a player, Coach Gagliardi was a coach of Division III college football at its best; and more importantly, he was a teacher first, embodying a philosophy that enjoined principle and character, all while winning more games than any other coach in college football history.

Shame on us all for idly standing by as similar treatment given to Paterno was applied to this largely unblemished coach. Undoubtedly, he has cast a long shadow across many a fall football sideline; no coach to come will ever win or teach his way fully out of it.

Jeffrey M. Ayer, Forest Lake

Read entire article and comments… Here

Father Dan Ward is the tenth (Yes, Tenth) monk/priest from Saint John’s who served at the Church of Saint Joseph against whom credible allegations have been made.

Ward replaced Father Tom Gillespie in 1996 when Gillespie was outed as a pedophile.

Gillespie, many will remember, spent time at the Wetterling house after Jacob disappeared. Gillespie has yet to answer questions regarding his role in the Klehr suicide.

The current pastor in Saint Joseph, Father Jerome Tupa, was Joshua Guimond’s faculty resident. Tupa has been a driving force behind the abbey’s efforts to suppress information regarding misconduct at Saint John’s, including the disappearance of Joshua Guimond.
It is time to educate and support the people of Saint Joseph!

Will you join us?

The only active coach to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, the 86-year-old Gagliardi chose to retire after the Johnnies finished their first nonwinning season since 1986 at 5-5, and their first losing season in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play (3-5) since 1973.

“I’ve been thinking about it all through my 80s, so six or seven years now,” Gagliardi said Monday in a telephone interview. “I don’t know. I just decided that enough is enough.”

Gagliardi insisted that the decision was his alone and that the university did not force him out. St. John’s has not won an M.I.A.C. title or been to the N.C.A.A. playoffs since a 10-1 season in 2009, while going 7-3, 6-4 and 5-5 the last three years. This season the Johnnies endured their first four-game losing streak since 1930, and their first 0-4 start in M.I.A.C. play since 1929. Gagliardi’s career ended with a 27-22 loss to Bethel on Nov. 10.

“My closing could have been better,” Gagliardi said. “But it could have been a heck of a lot worse.”

Gagliardi came to St. John’s, a liberal arts school founded by Benedictine monks about 80 miles northwest of Minneapolis, in 1953, after four seasons at Carroll College in Helena, Mont. He succeeded Johnny (Blood) McNally, a former Green Bay Packer and part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s inaugural induction class in 1963.

McNally, who played at St. John’s before quitting to play in the N.F.L., reportedly told Gagliardi that no coach could win at the school. In Gagliardi’s first season, he directed the Johnnies to the first of his 27 M.I.A.C. titles.

St. John’s won N.A.I.A. national championships in 1963 and ’65 under Gagliardi, and N.C.A.A. Division III titles in 1976 and 2003. Also in 2003, when St. John’s finished 14-0, Gagliardi won his 409th game to break former Grambling coach Eddie Robinson’s record for career victories.

He lasted seven seasons longer than the former record-holder Amos Alonzo Stagg of the University of Chicago and the University of the Pacific. Since 1993, the award for Division III’s best player has been named for Gagliardi.

“Arguably, John Gagliardi has impacted the lives of as many young men as any individual in the history of St. John’s University,” the university president Michael Hemesath said in a statement. “His legacy of educating young men at St. John’s is one that any coach or professor would envy.”

Gagliardi was known for unconventional coaching methods that were often called “Winning With Nos” — no tackling in practice, no hitting blocking sleds, no mandatory weight training and no practices longer than 90 minutes. Gagliardi and his assistants never wore whistles, either. He often carried more than 100 players on his roster — this year’s team had 185 — and players could arrive late for practice without penalty if coming from class.

No calling Gagliardi “Coach,” either. He insisted everyone call him John.

Gagliardi, who received recognition from President Obama on Monday, has been around so long that he coached three of his grandsons, most recently Billy Gagliardi, a freshman wide receiver. John Gagliardi has long wished for his son Jim, Billy’s father and the Johnnies longtime offensive coordinator, to succeed him.

“I hope he gets a shot at the job,” Gagliardi said. “If we had had a better season, or were coming off a national championship or were 15-0, he might have a better shot. But who knows what will happen?”

Other candidates include Mike Grant, the son of the former Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant and a former St. John’s tight end who seeks his eighth state title at Eden Prairie High School in Minnesota this week. Bud Grant once offered Gagliardi an assistant’s job with the Vikings.

Gagliardi said the search committee would not seek his input, which frustrates him.

“I don’t have any say,” Gagliardi said. “That’s the ridiculous part.”

View Entire Article and Comments… Here

After 489 Wins, Coach Chooses Retirement
November 19, 2012
Pat Borzi
New York Times

“One night as I prepared to leave after a long night of studying and tutoring from Fr. Dan, I got up to go and was putting on my coat when I was spun around. Fr. Dan grabbed the lapels of my coat and before I knew it he was kissing me forcefully on the mouth, well it was really kissing as much as it felt like a declaration of war, like I had been branded by him, that I was his and no-one else’s. It was clear to me that he had an erection and he made no effort to hide this fact as he rubbed it against me. He was as excited as I was horrified. I left without my books and tore off down the hall half-expecting him to run after me. The next class, he brought my books and gave them back to me. It seemed like he was smiling a new grin as he did it.”

“The thing was, Fr. Dan is a monster. He was like an abusive ex-boyfriend who never took “no” for an answer and the more you pulled away from him the more crazy he became.  When I started pulling away from him, and stopped dropping by his room so much, then that’s where he started acting more crazy to me. The late night phone calls started, threatening phone calls telling me I had to drop some classes to take others that he taught instead.”

“One JTerm, my friend XXXXX and I took Fr. Dan’s Mock Trial class. At the end of the term, XXXXX said she didn’t want to go to a competition in Iowa, and I didn’t want to either. So, we both told Fr. Dan our decision. Before I got back from dinner my phone was ringing off the hook. It was Fr. Dan telling me that I had better go to Iowa with him and the group. If I didn’t go with him, he said, he would give my friend XXXXX and I an “F” for the class. I never told XXXXX, I just went to Iowa.”

Student #4
Notarized Statement
November 10, 2012

Additional Victims:

Student #1 Remembers Father Dan Ward

Student #2 Remembers Father Dan Ward

Student #3 Remembers Father Dan Ward

According to the abbey’s web site [ View ]:

“rigorous investigations deemed that allegations of sexual abuse or misconduct* against 23 members of the Abbey were credible.”

Interestingly, on the web page (titled “transparency.html”) the abbey fails to provide the names of the 23 monk offenders.

The abbey web site no longer provides a copy of the letter that it claims was sent to Saint John’s alum in April of 2011.  As part of the April, 2011 settlement, that letter was to be posted on the abbey’s website [ View ].

That April, 2011 letter from Abbot John Klassen [ View ] provided the names of eighteen credibly accused monk offenders:

Brother Andre Bennett
Brother Isaac Connolly
Father Richard Eckroth
Father Thomas Gillespie
Brother John Kelly
Father Brennan Maiers
Father Dunstan Moorse
Father Francisco Schulte
Father Bruce Wollmering
Father Michael Bik
Father Cosmas Dahlheimer
Abbot John Eidenschink
Father Fran Hoefgen
Brother Steven Lilly
Father Finian McDonald
Brother Jim Phillips
Father Allen Tarlton
Father James Kelly

Which of the following credibly accused monks [ View ] make up the other five on the abbey’s new list of twenty-three?

Father Tom Andert
Father Daniel Ward
Father Mel Taylor
Brother Robert Burke
Father Howard Oak Mossier
Father Agustine Cerezo Murillo
Father Peregrin Berres
Father Robert Blumeyer
Father Mathias Faue
Father Othmar Hohmann
Abbot Timothy Kelly
Brother Paschal Brisson
Father Dominic Keller

[Note: Read Full Article and View Comments... Here ]

After winning their first two games, the Johnnies lost four in a row. They are on a three-game winning streak and will close out the season with a 6-4 record if they beat Bethel.

Gagliardi already holds the all-time record for wins by a college football coach with 489. You don’t need to be a math whiz to know another win puts him just 10 away from 500.

I talked to Gagliardi on Tuesday about his team and his future.

BS: You turned 86 on Nov. 1. A belated “Happy Birthday.” I’m sure I asked you this when you turned 66 and also when you turned 76: Will you be coaching 10 years from now?

JG: Who knows? I never think about it, really. All I could think about is what I’ve got to do today.

BS: After a 2-4 start, you’ve won three in a row and sit at 5-4. Is it safe for you to be around sharp instruments again?

JG: I don’t know. They’re all dull now because I used most of them.

BS: How tough has this season been on you?

JG: It’s been tough. Every season is tough, but when you lose it’s a lot tougher. Even when you’re winning, it’s not easy because you have to figure out how to keep it going. On the big winning streaks we had, after every win, yousaid, “Thank God we dodged another bullet.” In other years, we were playing well into December (in NCAA postseason games). Now the season ends, and that’s it.

BS: You’ve said you’d like to win 500 games. Are you intent on staying on as coach until you win No. 500?

JG: The 500? I just threw that out as a joke. I was thinking at the time, “Well, I need 16 to get to 500.” It seemed like a nice number. I said if we can win two a year, we can do it in eight years. And if I could get one win a year, I could get it in 16. And if I never win another game, I could still lose every game for the next 35 years and I’d still finish with a winning record.

BS: So it was just a joke?

JG: It was all part of a joke. I said, “I’ve got a chance to go 35 years if they prop me up, like in that movie, “Weekend at Bernie’s.” All I really was worried about at the time was if we could get to 485 wins. That’s always my goal: Just win one more. I was just screwing around with that 500.

BS: Will you consider retiring after the season?

JG: I’ve always considered that every year. I’ve considered it after every game. (Laughs.) This is murder when we win, lose, whatever. I’m sure it goes through everybody’s mind (to retire).

BS: In other words, you’re not saying?

JG: I’m looking at picture of me and (late Penn State coach) Joe Paterno from two years ago. It’s a reminder to me that you can’t look too far forward. That moment I spent with him, he was on top of the world. How can you possibly think too far in advance? Somebody told me I ought to take that picture down. I said, “Why take it down?” It was a moment when we both were on top of the world.

BS: What has happened in the MIAC — better competition?

JG: There is some real competition, but there always has been. I think there are very, very good teams and very, very good coaches.

BS: You close the season out against Bethel. After years and years of winning the MIAC or being in the hunt for the conference title right to the end, how tough is it to go into the last game knowing there is no NCAA postseason game coming up?

JG: It’s always tough. Every game to me is not easy. Last week, for example, we’re playing Hamline — you can stumble. Hamline has given a lot of teams a lot of trouble until they ran out of gas. I worried like crazy. If we stumbled against them, I don’t know if I could take it.

BS: If you ever retire, what will you do with your fall days?

JG: I don’t know. I don’t really think too much about that. People retire. People die. Life goes on.

Read Full Article and View Comments… Here

Joe Paterno photo reminds John Gagliardi ‘you can’t look too far forward’
Bob Sansevere
pioneerpress.com
November 6, 2012

Saturday should be John Gagliardi’s last home game.

According to the Saint Cloud Times [ View ]:

Like a lot of other former St. John’s football players, Lyle Mathiasen plans to be in Collegeville on Saturday. Ditto for sons Jason and Brian, who also are former SJU offensive linemen. Lyle rarely misses a game, even ones that at first glance have no particular significance. But this game could be something special.

According to the StarTribune [ View ]:

End of an era? St. John’s plays host to Gustavus on Saturday in what could be the final home game for coach John Gagliardi. The Johnnies play their final two regular-season games on the road — at Hamline (Nov. 3) and at Bethel (Nov. 10). The Johnnies (3-4, 2-4 MIAC) are 2-2 in home games this season. Only twice (1956 and 1978) in Gagliardi’s 60 seasons in Collegeville have the Johnnies had a losing record in home games. Gagliardi, who has 487 victories in 64 seasons as a college coach, has directed the Johnnies to a 242-51-4 record (.822 winning percentage) in home games.

Saturday should be John Gagliardi’s last home game.

In light of the misdirection Gagliardi provided during the height of the Penn State scandal [ View ], he should not have started the season. He should have stepped down in January [ View ]. What we’ve learned since January [ View ] only reinforces that position.

Instead of addressing real concerns on campus and moving forward, one has to wonder if Gagliardi’s perceived invincibility has causes others within the Saint John’s University athletic department and administration to act inappropriately [ View ].

Like Joe Paterno, folks will say John Gagliardi could have done more, should have done more.

Gagliardi still has an opportunity to do more. Paterno does not.

“[Paterno] now passes to eternity less as a legendary coach than as that guy from Penn State who let pedophile Jerry Sandusky keep abusing kids.” [ View ]

Will something comparable be written about Gagliardi?

“[Gagliardi] now passes to eternity less as a legendary coach than as that guy from Saimt John’s who let serial molesters Roger Julkowski*, Finian McDonald and Bruce Wollmering keep abusing kids.”

All three of these men reoffended after Gagliardi was made aware of their misconduct.

By Gagliardi’s own account [ View ], he should have done more in the 1950′s. He could have done more in the 1970′s [ View ] and in the 1990s [ View ]. Certainly, he could have done more last year. Instead, he turned his back on the victims (literally) in his own back yard. [ View ].

By not doing more Gagiardi sent, and continues to send, the wrong message to the entire Saint John’s community, including members of his own family [ View ].

When he looks up into the home stands on Saturday, Gagliardi will certainly see friends and family. He’ll also see several monks who have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct [ View ], many monks who haven’t been named  [ View ] and others who helped cover it up  [ View ].  After all, these men are his “bosses.”

Gagliardi and his “Bosses”
August 1992 – Sports Illustrated

View Sports Illustrated Story

Posted on October 26, 2012
Edited on October 26, 2012

* Based on research following Gagliardi’s July, 2012 admission. [ View ]

Alleged Rape (and a current coverup) at Saint John’s

Email to Michael Hemesath, Tom Stock and Bill Sexton:

As you are aware, senior swimmer BM left Saint John’s University early last month following a credible allegation of sexual misconduct. So credible, in fact, that a search warrant was issued.

In light of the current investigation underway by law enforcement, I would like to know who authorized the (near complete) scrubbing of BM’s name from the SJU Athletic Department web site.

What else are you hiding from law enforcement?

What are you hiding from other victims?

BM was on the swim team during the 2009-2010, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years yet his name has been removed from the swim team roster for each of those years:

2011-2012 Swim Roster: http://gojohnnies.com/roster.aspx
2010-2011 Swim Roster: http://gojohnnies.com/roster.aspx?roster=167
2009-2010 Swim Roster: http://gojohnnies.com/roster.aspx?roster=153

It is well documented (see below) that BM was a member of those teams.

You are no doubt familiar with other members of the Saint John’s University Athletic Department who have covered up sexual misconduct on campus. This list includes John Gagliardi (circa 1968, 1975 and 2001), Pat Haws in 1975, and Jim Smith in 2003.

It is disappointing that the new president of the university, the current athletic director and its swim coach have joined that group.

Very Sincerely,

Patrick Marker

CC: Abbot John Klassen, Sheriff John Sanner, Brother Dan Morgan

*** A.   As a freshman (2009-2010 school year), BM competed on the SJU swim team.

In December of 2009, BM competed at the UW-River Falls Falcon Invitational.

See Attached: Dec, 2009 UW-River Falls Falcon Invite – Red Division.pdf

*** B. As a sophomore (2010-2011 school year), BM competed on the SJU swim team.

In December of 2010, BM competed at the UW-River Falls Invitational

See Attached: Dec, 2010 UW-River Falls Invitational.pdf

*** C. As a junior (2011-2012 school year), BM competed on the SJU swim team.

In December of 2011, BM competed at the UW-River Falls Falcon Invitational

See Attached: Dec, 2011 UW-River Falls Falcon Invitational (Men).pdf

*** D. Also as a junior (2011-2012 school year) swim team member BM was mentioned in “The Record” three times:

csbsjurecord.com
Page 8
Sep. 30, 2011

“Swimming instead of driving.”

csbsjurecord.com
Page 9
Dec. 9, 2011

“Our team performance was good,” junior BM said. “Despite a
tougher environment this year, several guys still made finals and a
good chunk of them were freshmen.” One such first-year was Logan
Arnold, who placed third in the 100-yard backstroke (54.35s) among
D-III athletes and placed ninth overall. “Individually, I was right
where I wanted to be in terms of time for my events,” Arnold said. “It
is nice to have a bigger mid-season invitational to compare yourself
to other swimmers in the MIAC.”

csbsjurecord.com
Jan. 27, 2012
Page 10

Other notable finishers on Friday against St. Cloud State included
seniors Seaburg and Jesse Otis, who finished second and third in the
200-yard freestyle, posting times of (1:48.37) and (1:48.92)
respectively. On Saturday, Franta took fourth in the 200-yard
backstroke with a time of 2:03.65 and junior BM finished
fifth in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:50.20.  The Johnnies will compete
at 1 p.m. on Saturday Jan. 28 at the Butler Center Pool on the campus
of St. Catherine’s University, in St. Paul, Minn.

STILLWATER, Minn. (KMSP) – Not guilty!

That’s a how a local talent agent pleaded Thursday morning to charges he molested two brothers who wanted to be actors.

Matthew Feeney is charged with criminal sexual conduct, accused of enticing the teenage boys to his home with movies, video games and paid acting jobs.

Also revealed in court Thursday: prosecutors hope to include evidence of four other times Feeney was accused of molesting boys — three cases in Minnesota from the 1990s and one from 2010 in Massachusetts.

Feeney’s attorneys will fight to keep the jury from hearing about those other accusations.

Read more: http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/19864776/matthew-feeney-pleads-not-guilty

Minneapolis News and Weather KMSP FOX 9

Letter to Archbishop Sartain re Father Dan Ward

October 19, 2012
Archbishop J. Peter Sartain
Archdiocese of Seattle
710 9th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104

Archbishop J. Peter Sartain,

Enclosed please find a letter that was sent to the Minnesota Bar Association on October 9, 2012 regarding the current investigation into sexual and other misconduct by Father Daniel Ward, OSB. As you are likely aware, Father Ward is a monk from Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. Father Ward currently lives in the Silver Spring, Maryland area and is executive director of the Resource Center for Religious Institutes (“RCRI”).

Despite these credible allegations of sexual and other misconduct (described in the attached letter) and the current investigation, Father Ward has not been called back to Minnesota. Instead, Father Ward is scheduled to speak at the RCRI conference in Orlando today and has celebrated mass on at least one occasion since the current investigation began on or around October 4, 2012.

According to a April 20, 2012 CNN article [ View ]:

“The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, the church’s doctrinal watchdog, on Wednesday announced the conclusion of a years-long “doctrinal assessment” investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents 80% of the Catholic nuns in the United States,” and, “The report singled out a Washington, DC social justice group called Network, which is run by nuns and the Resource Center for Religious Institutes, which assists members with financial and legal resources.”

I believe that any guidance, direction and/or legal advice provided by Father Dan Ward since the 1970’s should be carefully examined in light of these multiple allegations. It is precisely because of Father Dan Ward’s guidance that so many religious offenders have been able to escape social, civil and canonical penalty – and once faithful organizations have strayed from the Church’s teachings.

Father Dan Ward has influenced decisions made by other Benedictine monasteries, including Saint Martin’s Abbey in Lacey, and other religious orders and organizations. The result: Suspected and/or credibly accused offenders like Father Luke Travers (St. Mary’s), Father Edward Receconi (St. Martin’s), Father Tom Andert (St. John’s), Abbot Douglas Nowicki (St. Vincent’s), Brother Karl Walczak (Christian Brothers / O’Dea) and even Father Dan Ward himself have been able to prey on unsuspecting targets.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Very Sincerely,

Patrick J. Marker
patrickmarker@gmail.com
360-421-5849

[ Webmaster's Note: The CNN article [ View ] continued… “The ‘assessment reveals serious doctrinal problems,’ said the report, which called for major reforms,” and, “The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith appointed Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle to institute those reforms.” ]

[ View "The LCWR and Dan Ward"... Here ]

Modifications:

Fr. Dan Ward
Fr. Mel Taylor

Additions:

Fr. Jure Kristo (Offending Visting Faculty)
Matthew Feeney (Offending Lay Employee)
Fr. J.P. Earls (Participated in Coverup)
Mr. John Gagliardi (Participated in Coverup)
Mr. Pat Haws (Participated in Coverup)

View “The List”… Here

View Entire Article and Comments…. Here

The Canon Law Society of America (CLSA), the organization charged with “promotion of the study and application of canon law in the Roman Catholic Church,” hosted speaker Fr. Daniel Ward, OSB, a Benedictine monk and priest with at least five allegations of sexual abuse. The group did this despite being warned in a letter that the Benedictines had launched an investigation and that Marker had collected statements from the victims.

Ward’s presentation: A Diocese, a Parish, a Religious Institute, a Member: An Exploration of Canon and Civil Law is telling—his “exploration of Canon and civil law” seems to be a study on how to hide assets when a diocese is rocked by a sex abuse and cover-up scandal.

How does he know so much? Well, not only has he represented predator monks himself, but he also counsels church groups on sexual misconduct and asset reallocation. And who would know better?
The CLSA owes a huge explanation to its membership, who they thought would never catch wind of the allegations. The Benedictines need to be held accountable as well—one of their priests is under investigation for numerous allegations of abuse, yet they have warned NO ONE and allow Ward to live freely in Silver Spring, MD (home of the infamous St. Luke’s Institute, a treatment center for child-molesting clerics).

The Worthy Adversary
Joelle Casteix
October 15, 2012

Media Release

October 15, 2012

(regarding the appearance of alleged sexual abuser Fr. Dan Ward at conference in Florida)

Despite having six allegations of misconduct leveled against him, Benedictine Father Dan Ward is scheduled to deliver three workshops/lectures at the Resource Center for Religious Institutes (RCRI) annual convention being held this year in Orlando, Florida.  Father Ward is the Executive Director of the RCRI based in Silver Spring, MD, and the RCRI provides legal and other support to religious orders of men and women, including the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM), and the Religious Formation Conference (RFC).  More than 86,000 religious men and women are served by the RCRI.

Father Dan Ward is a member of the Benedictine order which has been rocked by hundreds of credible allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct at prestigious institutions such as St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN, St. Vincent’s College, Latrobe, PA, and Delbarton School in Morristown, NJ.  Father Ward is a monk, priest, canon and civil lawyer, and expert witness for religious institutions that have been wracked by allegations of sexual abuse by their members.  He has been accused of unwelcome advances toward, kissing, and threats against students.  Three male students, two former monks and a female college student are among those who have alleged misconduct against Father Ward.

Father Ward was an advisor to fellow Benedictine Father Giles Hayes, President of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, before Hayes was forced to resign as President of the CMSM as a result of the scandal of sexual abuse at a prominent New Jersey Catholic high school led by Hayes.  The headmaster of Delbarton School, Father Luke Travers, was forced to resign his position when former students alleged sexual abuse.  Father Giles Hayes was and is head of the Benedictine community and President of Delbarton School.  He and Father Ward worked together in placing Father Luke Travers at an abbey in Virginia where he had access to students, despite restrictions to the contrary.  At the time, Road to Recovery called for Hayes’ resignation of the CMSM because he could not “provide the necessary good example to other religious superiors on the handling of sex abuse claims.”

Road to Recovery calls on Father Dan Ward to withdraw from the Orlando, Florida RCRI convention and resign from his leadership of the RCRI.  His own credibly alleged misconduct disqualifies him from advising, consulting, lecturing, and leading other religious leaders.

Father Dan Ward must step down now.

Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D.
Co-founder and President
Road to Recovery, Inc.
P.O. Box 279
Livingston, New Jersey 07039
862-368-2800

See Full Story… Here

“I recall only that Father Ward said that there were things that ‘were not discussed’ at the school and that if I kept talking about it, he said, I would have to leave the school.”

“I told [Coach Gagliardi] that the issues I had at the beginning of the school year had only gotten worse, that several priests had been showing up at my room to say hello, and two priests, Fathers McDonald and [Father Bruce Wollmering], were trying to convince me that praying naked in the dark was normal and holy. I also told coach Gagliardi that, “I don’t like the way they are touching me.” I told him that no person who believed in God would do such things. I then asked [Coach Gagliardi] for advice.”

Three excerpts from a statement signed and notarized on March 27, 2012.

In the summer of 1974, I visited Collegeville at the insistence of Fr. Ward. Fr. Ward wanted me to attend college at St. John’s University and told me that he would help with the application process.

During my visit, I spent the night in a guest room at the monastery. The night of my stay, Fr. Ward entered the guest room while I was in bed. After some conversation Fr. Ward walked over, sat on the edge of my bed and kissed me on the mouth for an extended and altogether uncomfortable period of time.

Fr. Dan Ward’s actions were unprovoked, unwelcomed and certainly inappropriate. I just froze and wondered where in the world this was all going. Fortunately he got up said good night and left.

I have not shared my story with anyone until today. I decided to come forward with this information in an effort to support other victims of misconduct by Fr. Dan Ward.

[Webmaster's Note: This victim's photo was on Father Dan Ward's dresser when Ward invited another student [ More ] to his bedroom. ]

Student #2… Here

Student #3… Here

Student #4… Here

I feel it necessary to state, at the outset, that I have a very high regard for many of the faculty at St. John’s who were, and who still are, members of the religious community. Indeed, I have maintained contact with a few of my professors over the years and continue to believe that the quality of the education I received at St. John’s was outstanding.

When I reflect back upon that education, however, I realize that my experience at St. John’s might easily have been much different. What I have to say here is not intended to harm or offend anyone, but rather to encourage others with similar experiences to come forward.

Needless to say, all of the experiences related below seemed less significant to me at the time. But now, in light of the role that a certain priest appears to have played in connection with the many claims of sexual abuse that have been made against St. John’s Abbey, I see things in a much different light. The role he has played in these scandals—because of his status as both a civil lawyer and a canon lawyer—seems to me the ultimate irony when I reflect back upon the sexual advance that he made toward me when I was nineteen years old.

Like many of my fellow classmates, I attended Catholic grade school and graduated from a Catholic high school. During high school, I participated in several religious retreats and generally considered myself to be a “spiritual” person. Over the years, I had had contact with a few “charismatic” priests who certainly made an impact upon my life. I entered St. John’s with a certain comfort level regarding my ability to relate to and communicate with priests.

I first met Fr. Dan Ward, OSB, during my freshman year. A disciplinary matter had come to light in our dormitory, and I was a representative of the board that reviewed such matters. Fr. Ward was the faculty representative on that board. Shortly after that disciplinary matter concluded, Fr. Ward invited me to have dinner with him on a Saturday evening in his room on the second floor of our dormitory. I did not regard this invitation as being anything out of the ordinary— the presence of priests as “faculty residents” in the dormitory was—and still is–an accepted feature of campus life at St. John’s. In addition, I was a classmate of a cousin of Fr. Ward, and I knew that this classmate had also been invited to dinner in Fr. Ward’s room on at least one previous occasion.

I recall that Fr. Ward served alcohol both before and during the meal (the legal drinking age in Minnesota at the time was 18). I recall the general discussion that occurred before, during and after the meal. Fr. Ward told me that he had been accepted to the University of Iowa Law School and that he would be leaving St. John’s the following semester to attend law school. He told me that “the abbot” had agreed to allow him to attend law school if he first agreed to become a canon lawyer, which he had done, obtaining his canon law degree from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Fr. Ward told me that when he obtained his civil law degree, he would be one of only a handful of people in the country with degrees in both canon law and civil law. He also told me about his experience working on “annulments” with the bishop of the diocese, located in St. Cloud. I recall him telling me that evening that reviewing requests for annulments required him to consider many intimate facts about marriages that were required to be disclosed during the process. This seemed to me an odd subject of conversation between a priest and a student.

During the evening, Fr. Ward asked me questions about my family and about my upbringing. I found his apparent interest in the details of my life to be somewhat flattering. I do recall that he also made some inquiry about whether I thought I would ever have any interest in becoming a monk.

Both during and after dinner, Fr. Ward spoke to me about a student at St. John’s Preparatory School. Apparently, although I do not recall the specifics, Fr. Ward either taught at the prep school or had a position there during the previous school year. He spoke about the “special relationship” that he had with this former student, and indeed, I was shown a framed photograph of this student in Fr. Ward’s bedroom. (I recall the student’s name, but out of respect for his privacy, will not disclose it here).

When I felt that it was time for me to leave, I stood up, thanking Fr. Ward for his hospitality. He stepped toward me and began hugging me, then—in a move which took me completely by surprise–kissed me full upon the lips. It was not a brief kiss, but rather was very passionate—I had been kissed by girls in this way, but never by a man. I just stood there enduring it, not knowing what to make of what was happening. The kiss went on for a very uncomfortable amount of time. As he kissed me, I also felt him rub his obviously aroused genital area against me. I had never been kissed or touched by a man in this way before, and it was repulsive to me. And I could not understand what prompted it. I remember thinking that if I ever needed to be convinced about my true sexual orientation—and I did not—this incident certainly would have been enough. As soon as it was reasonably comfortable for me to leave Fr. Ward’s embrace, and to leave his room, I did so.

I don’t remember what I did immediately afterwards, but I most certainly did not tell anyone at St. John’s about this incident. (Who would have believed me?) In fact, in the intervening years, I have told very few people—perhaps only three or four–about what happened that night. In the 1970’s, there did not seem to be much discussion about claims of sexual misconduct by priests. I certainly never had heard any such claims. And I also remember wondering what would have happened that night if my sexual orientation had been different. I knew at least one fellow student during my freshman year at St. John’s who was openly gay. I wondered if Fr. Ward would have stopped with someone who “welcomed” his advances.

I had no contact with Fr. Ward for several days. I then ran into him by chance on a walkway outside of the dorm. It must have been obvious to him that I was uncomfortable, because he sort of jokingly asked me if I had been avoiding him. I told him that what had happened made me uncomfortable. The only thing I remember him saying was that it was very difficult for a priest to find ways to show affection towards another person. I just kept wondering how he could have acted the way he did with someone he had known for such a short amount of time. I also began wondering about the nature of his relationship with the prep school student [ More ] whose picture he kept in his bedroom.

I continued to have contact with Fr. Ward through the rest of my freshman year, although I was certainly on my guard and never allowed myself to be in a position where the events of that first evening could be repeated. He once asked me to do the readings at a Mass he performed in the Abbey Church, which I felt I should not refuse. He also found excuses to ask me to accompany him through certain parts of the monastery which were considered “restricted.” I felt at such times that he was “showing me off” to other members of the monastery.

Fr. Ward was away at law school and absent from St. John’s during my sophomore and junior years. I do recall him “dropping in” on me from time to time, however, when he was back on campus. One thing he continuously requested from me, from the time shortly after his unwelcomed sexual advance, to the time I graduated, was a photograph. I remember not wanting to give one to him—because it brought to mind the framed photograph of the prep school student that I once saw displayed in his room.

During the first semester of my senior year, I learned that Fr. Ward would be coming back to St. John’s for my last semester. I remember feeling that I wanted to show him that what had happened on that night during my freshman year did not affect me in the least.

…

When he returned from law school, for example, he was full of stories about his experience there. He often told me about the drinking and partying he did in Iowa City. Once he told me about a female law student who he claimed had attempted to seduce him. He laughingly referred to the seduction of a priest as “the ultimate challenge” for some women.

[A year later, Father Dan Ward allegedly threatened to kick a student out of Saint John's University for discussing sexual abuse perpetrated upon him by Father Finian McDonald and Father Bruce Wollmering. View ]