(SC Times) The St. John\u2019s Prep School alum who was kicked out of a class reunion June 29 on campus has received a letter from the Order of St. Benedict barring him from any of its property for a year.<\/p>\n
Patrick Marker maintains a website critical of St. John\u2019s Abbey and its handling of clergy sex abuse cases. He was kicked off the Collegeville campus while attending a class reunion to which he was invited by the Prep School.<\/p>\n
Marker received a letter Monday informing him that he is barred from being \u201cin, on or around the premises of the Order of St. Benedict.\u201d Marker is banned from the buildings housing the Prep School, the abbey, St. John\u2019s University, the Liturgical Press and all \u201cdormitory buildings and campus facilities, for any reason whatsoever,\u201d according to the letter.<\/p>\n
He also is banned from the Abbey Church.<\/p>\n
In a statement released last week in response to the Times\u2019 questions about Marker\u2019s ouster from the reunion, the Prep School issued a statement saying it did so in response to \u201ca history of hostility\u201d by Marker.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe felt it was in the best interests of our guests to ask this person to leave so that others could enjoy the reunion,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
The Prep School hasn\u2019t responded to a follow-up request from the Times to talk to Headmaster Jonathan Licari or his designate about the incident.<\/p>\n
The letter Marker received Monday mentions no reason for Marker being trespassed from the property, something that can remain in place for a year. Only Shawn Vierzba, who is the director of the campus Life Safety Services, or Abbot John Klassen can give Marker permission to return to campus in the next year, according to the letter Marker received.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing that surprised me the most is that there\u2019s no reason given,\u201d Marker said. \u201cNot that there had to be, but this claim of a \u2018history of hostility?\u2019 There hasn\u2019t been one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marker had traveled from Washington for a reunion of his 1983 Prep School class. His website,\u00a0www.behindthepinecurtain.com<\/a>, has posted extensive information about the clergy sex abuse crisis, much of it involving St. John\u2019s monks and priests. Members of St. John\u2019s Abbey in the past have criticized Marker and his website, saying that some of the information he has posted is incorrect.<\/p>\n He referred to the trespass notice he received as \u201cmisinformation designed to discredit\u201d him and move farther away from disclosing the truth.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s indicative of their fear rather than my actions,\u201d Marker said. \u201cThey fear the truth. This keeps the truth off campus.\u201d<\/p>\n