Monastic Rebuttal

Posted on April 19, 2011
Posted in Cody Maynus, Opinion

“I know for a fact that many monks felt demonized and ostracized by the Record’s article. That is hardly ethical and it is hardly Benedictine. Let’s live our values, shall we?” – Cody Maynus, SJU sophomore

Monastic Rebuttal

Dear Editor,

As a Lutheran whose personal formation has been greatly influenced by the Benedictine men and women of these institutions, I feel like I have the obligation to speak up and voice my opinions regarding last week’s article about the clergy sex abuse scandal on campus.

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St. John’s Names an Offender, 38 Years Later

Posted on April 19, 2011
Posted in BS, James Kelly, Settlement Information

The letter that St. John’s Abbey agreed to send to former St. Prep School students for whom the St. John’s alumni office had current addresses (approximately 64% of graduates and 15% of non-graduates) went out this week.

However, instead of including the names of seventeen offending monks as originally announced, the list includes eighteen names.

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Abbot: Pavkovich “Shouldn’t Be” at St. John’s

Posted on April 18, 2011
Posted in John Klassen, Lay Faculty, Michael Ford, Steve Pavkovich

According to Abbot John Klassen in June of 2010, former Prep School teacher Steve Pavkovich is not allowed at St. John’s. When asked in 2010 why Pavkovich was still visiting campus from time to time, Klassen responded, “shouldn’t be.” This “restriction” dates back several years and was put in place after allegations of misconduct, involving one or more female victims at St. John’s Prep School, were made.

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Abbot: Settlement Involving Prefect in 2002

Posted on April 16, 2011
Posted in John Klassen, Lay Faculty, Settlement Information, Terry DeSutter

According to Abbot John Klassen in June of 2010, St. John’s Abbey settled a complaint against former St. John’s Prep School prefect Terry DeSutter in 2002.  At the time of the misconduct, several “prefects” lived in the boy’s dormitory at the Prep School. Some prefects were also teachers.

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Abbot addresses community, abuse cases

Posted on April 15, 2011
Posted in Jeff Anderson, John Klassen, Pat Marker, Robert Koopmann, Settlement Information

Abbot John Klassen broke the silence Wednesday and apologized for not publicly addressing the St. John’s community sooner.

Abbey Letter Lists Eighteen Offending Monks

Posted on April 15, 2011
Posted in Allen Tarlton, Andre Bennett, Brennan Maiers, Bruce Wollmering, Cosmas Dahlheimer, Dunstan Moorse, Finian McDonald, Fran Hoefgen, Francisco Schulte, Isaac Connolly, James Kelly, Jim Phillips, John Eidenschink, John Kelly, John Klassen, Michael Bik, Richard Eckroth, Steve Lilly, Thomas Gillespie

I am posting this open letter to you because I wish to publicly acknowledge that the following monks have had credible allegations of sexual abuse, exploitation, or misconduct brought against them while they were working in one of the apostolates of Saint John’s Abbey, or before they were a member of the abbey. – Abbot John Klassen

[Webmaster’s Note: The version of this letter that appeared on the abbey’s web site from April of 2011 until the summer of 2012 did not include a date or abbey letterhead.  The letter (see links, at bottom) also failed to name the other monks and other Saint John’s personnel against whom credible allegations of misconduct [ View ] had been made and/or settled.

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Klassen Fails to Answer His Own Question

Posted on April 12, 2011
Posted in Bruce Wollmering, Francisco Schulte, James Kelly, John Klassen, Mathias Faue, Paschal Brisson, Peregrin Berres, Pirmim Wendt, Robert Blumeyer, Robert Burke, Steve Lilly

In an email to the St. John’s community dated April 12, 2011, [ View ] Abbot John Klassen’s wrote, “Some of you may be asking why the issue of abuse keeps coming back in the media.”

Abbot Klassen never answers the question. Instead, he changes the subject.

“The cases that we settled are not for recent misconduct. Individuals come forward when they are ready to deal with the impact of the misconduct.”

Here’s the answer:

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SJU Employee Regarding Klassen’s Email

Posted on April 12, 2011
Posted in BS, John Klassen

I wanted to bring up something about the email [ View ] that was sent from the Abbot to Faculty/Staff/Students on April 12th. In Klassen’s attempt to be more open and honest about this situation they disabled forwarding and replying features of the email. I wonder why they would go to the effort of sending such an email and attempt to prevent people from sharing it?

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Abbot Klassen’s Letter to St. John’s Community

Posted on April 12, 2011
Posted in Abbey Apology, Abbot Apologies, John Klassen, Letters to Community, Settlement Information, Statements

Dear Members of the Saint John’s Communities,

Over the past years, I have been very aware of the fact that it is not only the monks who feel the impact of allegations of misconduct by members of our monastic community. All of you, our students, our faculty, staff, and administration, both here and at Saint Ben’s, feel the impact of these past events. I am deeply sorry for the harm done to survivors, and also for the pain it causes you now.

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Listening Sessions on Wednesday

Posted on April 12, 2011
Posted in John Klassen, Settlement Information

Members of the Saint John’s Campus Community (faculty, staff & students) are invited to attend a listening session with Abbot John Klassen, about the issues of misconduct that were recently in the news. Abbot John will start with brief opening comments and then the session with be open for any questions you may have.

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Covering Abuse Expenses

Posted on April 12, 2011
Posted in Benedict Leuthner, John Klassen, Michael Bik, Settlement Information, Timothy Kelly

In a 1998 memo regarding abuse by Michael Bik, Abbot Timothy Kelly made it clear that Saint John’s Abbey, not the individual monk, covers the cost of abuse (including counseling payments for victims). Abbot Timothy Kelly wrote:

“With his monastic vows, of course, Fr. Michael has no independent income and is unable to pay anything. This would leave it up to the abbey to cover costs…”

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Sex abuse scandal kept quiet

Posted on April 8, 2011
Posted in Jeff Anderson, John Klassen, Settlement Information

This article is available… Here

Misconduct in St. Joseph, MN

Posted on April 7, 2011
Posted in Aloysius Michaels, Angelo Zankl, Brennan Maiers, Bruce Wollmering, Cosmas Dahlheimer, Dan Ward, Florian Muggli, Jerome Tupa, John Klassen, Michael Bik, Othmar Hohmann, PR Machine, Richard Eckroth, Thomas Gillespie, Timothy Kelly

When Fr. Thomas Gillespie was yanked from the church on February 23, 1996, replacement priest Fr. Dan Ward and Abbot Timothy Kelly refused to provide an honest answer — the real reason — for Fr. Gillespie’s removal. According to the Abbey Banner, “Father Thomas Gillespie, is on sabbatical to take care of some health problems.” (Winter, 1996)

Later, Abbot John Klassen delayed the announcement of Fr. Tom Gillespie’s molestation of young boys for at least two reasons:

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Letter to the Editor

Posted on April 3, 2011
Posted in Opinion, Pat Marker

On September 7, 2006 The Record ran an article, “Abuse allegations shake St. John’s Abbey,” which quoted me as saying “extensive research shows more monks will be named and more victims will come forward.” In the same article, Abbot John Klassen responded to my claim by saying: “That is totally an unfounded, false statement. I mean false.”

Earlier this week, my prediction proved correct when 17 monks were named in a letter co-written by St. John’s Abbey as part of a recent settlement involving nine new victims.
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Former Monk’s Novel… How Much is Fiction?

Posted on April 3, 2011
Posted in St. John's

During the final seconds of his life Jorge Blanco’s past appears as a spiraled succession of images on a dynamic canvas. Deluded by the conviction of a religious vocation and motivated by the desire to escape his troubled home life, Jorge migrates from Puerto Rico to Minnesota, where he joins a Benedictine monastery. Jorge’s dismay at the reality of monastic hypocrisy, however, drives him to a cynical outrage, with fatal consequences.

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St. John’s Abbey agrees to mail letter at abuse victims’ request

Posted on April 1, 2011
Posted in Settlement Information

(SC Times) St. John’s Abbey and survivors of sexual misconduct said to be perpetrated by current and former abbey members reached an agreement Friday about the distribution of a letter signed by two survivors and Abbot John Klassen.

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Web Site Feedback… Damage

Posted on March 31, 2011
Posted in Dan Ward, Reading List, Web Site Feedback

Know that I believe what you are doing with Behind the Pine Curtain is both courageous and absolutely imperative to help victims of this form of insidious abuse to realize a semblance of justice. I’d like to say health, but that assumes health may be restored.

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Web Site Feedback

Posted on March 31, 2011
Posted in Web Site Feedback

“I am compelled to thank you. For me to reach out like this and to act beyond fear is a testimony to the enormous healing I have recieved from your action, your website.  Expressing my gratitude seems so small, so trite, in relation to what you have given but I thank you from the very depths of my being. You are so courageous and your courage gives so much strength. I am stronger because of you and hope that I too can reach out with courage to help alleviate the suffering of those, whom like me, were the victims of such terrible and horrific violence.”

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Another ISTI Member Speaks Up

Posted on March 30, 2011
Posted in Dietrich Reinhart, Elisabeth Horst, ISTI, John Klassen, Roman Paur, Timothy Kelly

If the Abbey wants to take credit for ISTI, then it needs to be open about what actually happened, which is that the effort simply dissolved once the actual issues began to be addressed. – Elisabeth Horst, former ISTI Advisory Member

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AUDIO: St. John’s Abbey Settles Lawsuit

Posted on March 29, 2011
Posted in Jeff Anderson, Pat Marker, Settlement Information, St. John's Prep

Monday’s announcement came as little surprise to former St. John’s student Patrick Marker. Marker, who graduated from the school in 1983, reported alleged abuse at the hands of a monk in 1989 and was among the initial whistleblowers who pushed the school to admit to the abuses.

“Abbot Klassen told others that my claims that more victims would come forward and more monks would be named were false — absolutely false, he said,” Marker said. “Today proves that what I say isn’t false, and I’m not the liar and I’m not the one trying to deceive people as they would have others believe.” – Listen (.mp3)

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