{"id":9042,"date":"2015-04-28T00:04:20","date_gmt":"2015-04-28T07:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/?p=9042"},"modified":"2015-05-06T12:42:10","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T19:42:10","slug":"adult-victims-abandoned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/adult-victims-abandoned\/","title":{"rendered":"Vulnerable Adult Victims Abandoned"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is time for Abbot John Klassen to\u00a0disclose the names of all credibly accused monk and lay offenders — of both children and vulnerable adults — in the Saint John’s community, precisely because he has taken credit in the past for understanding that, “secrecy is harmful to victims.”<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Adult Victims Abandoned<\/strong><\/p>\n

A letter written\u00a0by Abbot John Klassen of Saint John’s Abbey on April 15,\u00a02011 included that names of eighteen men who\u00a0“had credible allegations of sexual abuse, exploitation, or misconduct” against them.<\/p>\n

Klassen wrote [ View<\/a> ]:<\/p>\n

I also have learned that knowing that others have been victimized by someone galvanizes individuals to come forward. Saint John\u2019s wants to provide help to respond to this horrible abuse of trust that occurred.<\/em><\/p>\n

and<\/p>\n

A person does not have to feel alone; help is available.<\/em><\/p>\n

The\u00a0abbot’s 2011 letter was\u00a0pulled from the abbey’s web site during\u00a0the summer of 2012.<\/p>\n

In the summer of 2012, the web site read:<\/p>\n

“… rigorous investigations deemed that allegations of sexual abuse or misconduct* against\u00a023\u00a0members of the Abbey were credible.” <\/em>[ More<\/a>\u00a0]\n

When a\u00a0new statement was posted in December of 2013 [ View<\/a>], four of the names listed in the\u00a0abbot’s 2011 letter were gone:<\/p>\n

Former Abbot John Eidenschink
\nFather James Kelly
\nBrother Isaac Connolly
\nBrother Steve Lilly<\/p>\n

Saint John’s has admitted that each\u00a0of these men\u00a0has been\u00a0credibly accused of sexual abuse. Why were they removed?<\/p>\n

It is because their\u00a0victims were all “vulnerable adults.” A vulnerable adult is simply a victim over the age of eighteen. Abbot\u00a0Eidenschink’s numerous victims were young monks. Kelly, Connolly and Lilly’s victims were college students.<\/p>\n

It is no coincidence that the abbey changed its listing criteria in 2012.<\/p>\n

Standard (2002): \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Monks who have sexually abused young persons or vulnerable adults<\/p>\n

Standard (2011): \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credible allegations of sexual abuse, exploitation, or misconduct<\/p>\n

Standard (2012): <\/strong><\/p>\n

Likely have offended against minors<\/p>\n

By using the new standard, the abbey discounts the allegations of many victims, including the victims of misconduct perpetrated by Father Bruce Wollmering in 2002 and 2003.<\/p>\n

Four\u00a0of Father Dan\u00a0Ward’s known victims were all “vulnerable adults.” At least four “vulnerable adults” have claimed misconduct by Father Dan Ward. [ View<\/a> ]\n

Under the old standards, Father Dan Ward would have to be listed, as would\u00a0Abbot Timothy Kelly,\u00a0Brother Robert Burke,\u00a0Father\u00a0Peregrin Berres,\u00a0Brother\u00a0Paschal Brisson, among others.<\/p>\n

Early on, Abbot John Klassen’s set a compassionate\u00a0tone:<\/p>\n

“my heart has ached as I have learned more from victims and therapists about the long-term emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual pain that is caused by sexual abuse.” <\/em>–\u00a0Abbot John Klassen\u00a0(Open Letter of Apology\u00a0–\u00a0June 7, 2002<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Since 2002, Klassen has received a lot of praise for his transparency:<\/p>\n

[Abbot Klassen]\u00a0knew he was risking exactly the kind of negative attention the abbey has received, and he made the disclosure anyway, because he understands that secrecy is harmful to victims. I know of no other religious institution that has been so forthright, proactive, and humble in coming to terms with its own failure. Making mistakes is common. Owning your part and taking appropriate action takes courage.<\/em> – Elisabeth A. Horst (The Abbey Banner – Fall 2002 – Page 8) [ PDF<\/a> ]\n

In 2006, when it was suggested to Abbot Klassen that,\u00a0“research showed that more monks will be named and more victims will come forward,” he responded by saying,\u00a0“That is totally an unfounded, false statement. I mean false.” [ View<\/a> ]\n

Since 2006, six new names have been added to the public lists. [ View<\/a>\u00a0]\n

It is time for Abbot John Klassen to\u00a0disclose the names of all credibly accused monk and lay offenders — of both children and vulnerable adults — in the Saint John’s community, precisely because he has taken credit in the past for understanding that, “secrecy is harmful to victims.”<\/p>\n

If he cannot take this step, it is time to stop accepting credit, or step down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is time for Abbot John Klassen to\u00a0disclose the names of all credibly accused monk and lay offenders — of both children and vulnerable adults — in the Saint John’s community, precisely because he has taken credit in the past … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,264,11,6,167],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-isaac-connolly","category-james-kelly","category-john-eidenschink","category-john-klassen","category-steve-lilly","wp-image-borders"],"views":1906,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9042"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9121,"href":"http:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9042\/revisions\/9121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.behindthepinecurtain.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}