Investigators: Advocate Accused (Video)

Posted on November 15, 2011
Posted in Michael Weber

(Fox 9) Michael Weber trained to be a priest back in the 1960s and went on to be the prominent leader of the area’s most well-known social service agencies. Now, the long-time advocate for children is accused of sexually abusing children decades ago.

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Weber Victims to Meet

Posted on November 15, 2011
Posted in Michael Weber

If you were a victim of misconduct by Michael W. Weber, please contact law enforcement, a counselor or an attorney.  Please do not contact the St. Cloud Diocese. The diocese had at least forty years and several opportunities to deal with this issue. They didn’t.

The seven known “alleged” victims, were all children of single parents who participated in the “big brother” program involving St. John’s Seminary or children whose parents belonged to the St. Cloud Diocese’s chapter of NAIM (a support group for widows), were targeted by seminarians, including Weber.

Weber may have also volunteered at the St. Cloud Children’s Home.

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Protected: Weber: Three Police Reports, Seven Victims

Posted on November 15, 2011
Posted in Michael Weber

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McNeely Center Announcement Regarding Michael Weber

Posted on November 15, 2011
Posted in Michael Weber, Rita Knuesel

In a letter sent to Saint John’s University, dated Thursday, November 10, 2011, we learned of allegations of sexual misconduct by Michael Weber. None of the alleged incidents occurred at Saint John’s University or the College of Saint Benedict. Mr. Weber has served as a volunteer mentor in the Donald McNeely Center for Entrepreneurship at College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University since 2005.

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Institutional Accountability for Institutional Predators

Posted on November 14, 2011
Posted in Michael Weber, Penn State

In the wake of the scandal at Penn State University, the public dialogue has suggested that Americans are both shocked by the incidents of sexual abuse and appalled by the extensive cover-up perpetrated by top officials at the University. There is now increased awareness that predators will utilize the very institutions designed to help protect and save vulnerable children to gain access to and abuse children.

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Former St. Cloud deacon accused of sexual misconduct resigns from Twin Cities United Way board

Posted on November 14, 2011
Posted in Michael Weber

(SC Times) Michael W. Weber has resigned from the board of directors at the Greater Twin Cities United Way in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations that date back more than 40 years.

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SJU Mentor Accused of Sexual Misconduct

Posted on November 12, 2011
Posted in Donald McNeely Center, John Klassen, Michael Weber

Michael W. Weber (SJU ’66) has been mentoring Saint John’s University students as part of the Donald McNeely Center for Entrepreneurship despite Abbot John Klassen’s and Saint John’s University’s knowledge of allegations of sexual misconduct.

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SJU Removes Weber From Web Site

Posted on November 12, 2011
Posted in Donald McNeely Center, Michael Weber

After an allegation of misconduct was made public on Saturday, Saint John’s University removed Michael Weber’s name from the web pages for the Donald McNeely Center for Entrepreneurship program . Weber was a mentor with the program and attended a mentor function in Minneapolis on Thursday, November 10, 2011.

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Diocese sets listening session on allegation

Posted on November 12, 2011
Posted in Donald McNeely Center, Michael Weber

(SC Times) The St. Cloud diocese has scheduled a Dec. 4 listening session to address a sexual abuse allegation against a man who was a deacon in the diocese in 1969 and 1970.

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Text: Listening Session Announced

Posted on November 12, 2011
Posted in Michael Weber

The following statement was made by Fr. Thomas Knoblach after the 4pm mass on Saturday night (November 12, 2011) at the Church of the Holy Spirit in St. Cloud:

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John Gagliardi on Penn State Scandal

Posted on November 9, 2011
Posted in Joe Paterno, John Gagliardi, Penn State

(Pioneer Press) I don’t even want to think about these poor kids suffering because of this monster. – John Gagliardi

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Alumni Spotlight: Michael Weber

Posted on November 9, 2011
Posted in Michael Weber

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Gagliardi’s Puzzling Response

Posted on November 9, 2011
Posted in Allen Tarlton, Bruce Wollmering, Dunstan Moorse, Francisco Schulte, Joe Paterno, John Gagliardi, John Kelly, John Klassen, Mel Taylor, Penn State

Saint John’s University football coach John Gagliardi has finally spoken on the record about sexual misconduct.

In a Saint Cloud Times article regarding sex abuse at Penn State and Joe Paterno, Gagliardi said, “It’s just hard to believe anything like this can happen — that there are these kinds of people (like Sandusky is alleged to have been) around. But there are. It’s just very sad.”

Seriously?

Gagliardi lives less than a mile from Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, home to over a dozen sex offenders. 250 children and vulnerable adults have been victimized within a mile of Gagliardi’s home.

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Gagliardi shocked by Penn State scandal

Posted on November 9, 2011
Posted in John Gagliardi, Penn State

(SC Times) COLLEGEVILLE — Like most in the college football world and beyond, St. John’s coach John Gagliardi has been shocked by the sex-abuse scandal that has rocked head coach Joe Paterno and the Penn State football program.

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Remember the Children

Posted on November 8, 2011
Posted in Joe Paterno, Penn State, Victim Expression, Victim Support

(ESPN) This is not about Joe Paterno. If these boys really were molested, groped and raped by a middle-aged ex-Penn State football coach, then whatever misjudgment Paterno made will be a single lit match compared to the bonfire these boys will walk in for years to come.

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Bede Parry’s Signed Statement

Posted on November 7, 2011
Posted in Anthony Gorman, Bede Parry, Finian McDonald, Jerome Hanus, Jerome Thiesen, Rene McGraw, Roman Paur, School of Theology

While attending the School of Theology, I lived with the other monks at Saint John’s. There was an awareness of my misconduct among the other monks. In addition to Fr. Roman Paur and Fr. Finian McDonald, Fr. Rene McGraw also knew details of my misconduct. I recall that other monks commented or joked about my misconduct in a light-hearted, but nonetheless inappropriate, manner. – Bede Parry

Everything that I have done in my life has been with me, and haunting me, every day. – Bede Parry

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The Abbey’s Kool-Aid

Posted on November 4, 2011
Posted in Eric Pohlman, Paul Richards, Paul-Vincent Niebauer

According to a July 8, 2011 article in the St. Cloud Visitor, Brother Eric Pohlman, a 29-year-old junior monk at the abbey…

1. … felt called to Benedictine living and sought out St. John’s
2. … because it was a larger community
3. … with various employment opportunities
4. … interesting architecture
5. … a reputable history in liturgy renewal and ecumenical dialogue
6. … feels good about the way St. John’s has addressed and handled sexual abuse allegations when they have been made against monks.

Really? Let’s take a closer look:

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Br. Paul Richards Removed

Posted on November 1, 2011
Posted in John Klassen, Paul Richards, Paul-Vincent Niebauer

Abbot John Klassen has removed Br. Paul Richards as director of formation at Saint John’s Abbey.

The removal may have occurred on October 8, 2011.

According to the abbey’s web site, Br. Richards no longer serves as spokesperson for the Benedictine abbey. Richards appears to have been replaced by Brother Paul-Vincent Niebauer.

 

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Is Saint John’s Abbey Next?

Posted on October 26, 2011
Posted in Apostolic Visitation, Vatican

St Benedict’s School, a private independent Catholic school that is part of Ealing Abbey in west London, has been the focus of allegations of abuse. The apostolic visitation, as the inquiry is known, is reported to be the first of its kind in Britain.

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Abbey’s Motion to Dismiss Denied; Parry Case Moves Forward

Posted on October 25, 2011
Posted in Bede Parry, Finian McDonald, Jerome Thiesen, John Klassen, Rene McGraw, Roman Paur

On October 21, 2011 a judge in Nodaway County, Missouri dismissed Conception Abbey’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought against the Abbey by one of Fr. Bede Parry’s victims.

Fr. Parry was a visiting monk at Saint John’s Abbey from 1979 to 1982 while he took classes at the Saint John’s School of Theology. While on campus, Parry was caught in an inappropriate relationship with at least one student.

Saint John’s Abbey personnel covered up the misconduct.

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