The St. Cloud diocese and St. John\u2019s Abbey have made public all of the names of priests and monks who have credible allegations against them of sexual misconduct with minors, according to the leaders of both institutions.<\/p>\n
Abbot John Klassen and Bishop Donald Kettler said Monday that they are confident they know of all allegations made against members of their orders to date and that the names of those credibly accused have been released.<\/p>\n
Klassen and Kettler met Monday with the St. Cloud Times Editorial Board, at the invitation of Executive Editor John Bodette, to discuss the ongoing clergy sex abuse scandal, their responses to it and their acknowledgment of a need to rebuild trust with parishioners.<\/p>\n
\u201cShould there be somebody who has been abused, and we haven\u2019t been notified, please come and tell me,\u201d Kettler said. \u201cI want to know. But I feel confident that … we\u2019ve revealed everything that I know about for anybody that\u2019s likely abused.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLikewise, I am very confident, just knowing what I know about the files and our individuals who are doing ministry, I am confident about the safety and integrity of each of those folks in a position with children,\u201d Klassen said. \u201cI\u2019m confident they are safe, based on what\u2019s in those files and based on the kind of \u2018field of meetings\u2019 that I\u2019m a part of on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also echoed Kettler\u2019s plea for victims to come forward if they have been abused.<\/p>\n
Addressing abuse<\/p>\n
The two religious leaders met with the editorial board for an hour and discussed the pain that clergy sex abuse has caused, the changes the church has made to address the abuse and their hopes for future reconciliation with parishioners.<\/p>\n
Klassen was asked about the fact that no priest or monk has faced criminal charges for the sexual abuse of children. The criminal statute of limitations means that decades-old abuse can\u2019t be prosecuted, he said.<\/p>\n
And there haven\u2019t been any substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor by an abbey priest or monk for conduct that happened here after 1986, Klassen said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis does not diminish, deny, undercut the real pain and suffering that was caused by criminal actions,\u201d Klassen said.<\/p>\n
But it shows that the steps that the abbey has taken to protect children are working, he said. He and Kettler discussed the assessments and background checks done on candidates for the priesthood and the training and supervision they get during formation and after ordination.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s a \u2018before, during and all the time\u2019 that we are going to do that,\u201d Kettler said.<\/p>\n
Offending monks undergo risk assessments, Klassen said of the abbey. And the fact that those monks haven\u2019t faced criminal charges doesn\u2019t mean life just goes on as normal for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cLife stops,\u201d Klassen said. \u201cIt stops, the life they knew. … If they were teachers, they\u2019re no longer teaching. What they studied for, it\u2019s done, it\u2019s over. If they were priests, they will never do any ministry of any kind ever again, in any way, shape or form.\u201d<\/p>\n
The kind of freedom they knew and the hope they had for their future is done as well, he said. But he understands the sentiment from victims that because offenders aren\u2019t in jail they aren\u2019t seeing any consequences for their behavior.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir life stops,\u201d Klassen said. \u201cAnd we try to put it back together as best as we can and have a place and community where they can live, where they can work productively within the monastic community and make a contribution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forming trust
\nBoth leaders also addressed the future and healing the wounds that exist. Kettler asked for the community\u2019s help in rebuilding trust.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaking the time to listen to people, to visit, to guarantee that we\u2019re going to do what we can, and we\u2019re going to keep doing that,\u201d Kettler said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to get to a point five years from now where we\u2019ve done everything we need to do and we\u2019re going to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
The St. John\u2019s Abbey community wants to make sure that it\u2019s responsive in the way that it hears and listens to survivors, Klassen said. He acknowledged the deep pain that abuse causes an entire parish for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor our own monastic community, we\u2019ve been rocked by this, to be very candid, and it\u2019s very easy for us to just (close ranks),\u201d Klassen said. \u201cBut John\u2019s is a big, strapping, extroverted community, and it has been, and that\u2019s what we want it to be going forward. So part of our own dynamics is to keep walking and to learn to apologize, to recognize the harm done, not try to deny it, but at the same time to realize how we\u2019ve got to live into a future for ourselves as a monastic community.\u201d<\/p>\n