(SC Times) We\u2019re sorry we kicked you out, but you still can\u2019t come back here for a year.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the message leaders of the St. John\u2019s community delivered recently to Prep School alumnus Patrick Marker, who was invited to a June class reunion on campus only to be evicted and then banned from St. John\u2019s property for a year.<\/p>\n
Marker, a 1983 graduate, was a victim of clergy sex abuse while at the school and has become a victim advocate. He has long maintained a website critical of St. John\u2019s handling of clergy sex abuse cases.<\/p>\n
A Times news report Sunday detailed how St. John\u2019s apologized for kicking Marker out of the reunion, even offering to reimburse his expenses. However, St. John\u2019s leaders still banned him from its property for a year.<\/p>\n
As with its initial decision to evict Marker for no obvious reason during the reunion, St. John\u2019s must fully explain this latest move.<\/p>\n
Without a very detailed and very public justification for the ban, the apology rings undeniably hollow.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s understandable St. John\u2019s leaders don\u2019t agree with nor appreciate Marker\u2019s tenacious efforts, but that\u2019s hardly justification for banning him. To say nothing of how such treatment fits with the Benedictine values that underpin everyone \u2014 clergy, faculty, staff and students \u2014 in the St. John\u2019s community.<\/p>\n
More on that shortly. First, though, the reality is enough of Marker\u2019s efforts have proven credible that his concerns about St. John\u2019s handling of clergy sex abuse cases deserve attention.<\/p>\n
Yet by banning him, especially without explanation, St. John\u2019s only increases the public perception that the Catholic Church wants to stay silent.<\/p>\n
As for how these actions reflect the Benedictine values permeating St. John\u2019s culture, well, that\u2019s almost impossible to see.<\/p>\n
Look no further than \u201cCatholic, Benedictine Values in an Educational Environment,\u201d a roughly 10,000-word document written by St. John\u2019s Abbot John Klassen, former College of St. Benedict President Emmanuel Renner and theology professor Sister Mary Reuter.<\/p>\n