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

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Since the “Meet the Monks” section [ View ] was launched in May, the 721 monk profiles have been viewed a total of 64,478 times.

The most “popular” monks in June and July:

1. Fr. Francisco Schulte (1479 Views)
2. Fr. Thomas Gillespie (1468)
3. Fr. Tom Andert (1367)

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

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There are several stories here:

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

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

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

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

Br. Jim Phillips in mid-1970′s

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

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Since the new “Meet the Monks” section [ Go There ] was launched earlier this month, visitors have viewed the 720 monk profiles a total of 21,563 times.

The most “popular” monks:

1. Br. Isaac Connolly (528 Views)
2. Fr. Michael Bik (476 Views)

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Meet the Monks at St. John’s Abbey
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Photo of Fr. Fran Hoefgen; Photo of Br. John Kelly; Photo of Br. Jim Phillips
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According to multiple sources, St. John’s Abbey’s offending monks:

- Br. Jim Phillips < - Sodomy; At least two victims
- Br. Andre Bennett <- Died 2007
- Fr. Cosmas Dahlheimer <- Died 2002
- Fr. Richard Eckroth
- Fr. John Eidenschink <- Died 2004
- Fr. Thomas Gillespie
- Fr. Brennan Maiers
- Fr. Finian McDonald
- Fr. Dunstan Moorse <- At least nine victims
- Fr. Allen Tarlton
- Br. Isaac Connelly
- Fr. Michael Bik
- Fr. Bruce Wollmering <- Died 2009
- Fr. Robert Blumeyer <- Died 1983
- Br. John Kelly <- In Twin Cities
- Fr. Francis Hoefgen <- In Twin Cities
- Fr. Francisco Schulte <- Fled to Rome in 1987 following abuse allegations. Taken off of restriction by Abbot John Klassen in 2003.
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Fr. Tom Andert, OSB, unless I’m very much mistaken, was part and parcel of the sexual underground at the Prep School during the ~1980 time frame. While I have no specific allegations of sexual abuse against him, nor do I know of any, he was very good friends and daily colleagues of Br. Jim Phillips and Father Alan Tarleton during the relevant time periods. I would be VERY much surprised to learn he did not know of the sexual shenanigans doing on in the boys’ dorm and elsewhere.
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Today (November 10, 2009) marks the seven year anniversary of Joshua Guimond’s disappearance from the St. John’s University campus in Collegeville, Minnesota.
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During his junior year (1993-1994) at St. John’s Preparatory School in Collegeville, MN, [Victim] was dealing with issues at home, issues typical of a boarding school student, and the pressures of being a third generation Johnnie. In addition to these pressures, [Victim] was struggling with his sexuality and how to tell his parents that he was gay.
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