Abuse victim quits abbey review board

ST. CLOUD, MINN. — A sexual abuse victim resigned in protest Friday from an external review board formed by St. John’s Abbey in response to the clergy sexual abuse scandal.
Read More

Mr. Marker is an honorable man (Opinion)

Mr. Marker is an honorable man who did the honorable thing which of course raises the question as to where do Chairman Baraga and the rest of the board stand on this issue. I wish the Times would do the kind of investigative journalism they and the St. Joe Leader did on the allegations of horrifying sexual abuse by numerous Abbey members in the early 90’s.
Read More

St. John’s review board member resigns

COLLEGEVILLE – Pat Marker felt he was prevented from helping those who needed help the most. Marker resigned in protest Friday from an external review board formed as part of St. John’s Abbey’s response to a clergy sexual abuse scandal.
Read More

Letter re Michael Bik

On 7/29 the St. Cloud Times reported the names of 3 priests accused of sexual abuse. Among them was a man named Fr. Michael Bik, who I knew during my four years attending St. John’s Preparatory between 1998 and 2002. The article says that he taught and worked in the Campus Ministry office at the Prep school until 2002, but fails to mention the leadership role he played in that community, and the trust placed in him by students who sought his council.
Read More

St. John’s sexual misconduct review board member resigns

Pat Marker felt he was prevented from helping those who needed help the most. Marker resigned in protest Friday from an external review board formed as part of St. John’s Abbey’s response to a clergy sexual abuse scandal.
Read More

Member of abbey review board resigns in protest

COLLEGEVILLE – A member of the external review board formed as part of St. John’s Abbey’s response to allegations of sexual misconduct has resigned in protest of what he said was a delay in publicly disclosing accusations of sexual abuse.
Read More

Review board is necessary for keeping church honest (Opinion)

I read with interest the Times news report about the sexual abuse allegations against monks from St. John’s community. Of particular interest was the abbot’s remark that “if it came to us today we would have handled it differently.”
Read More

Abbey defends its handling of clergy offenses

ST. LOUIS PARK – St. John’s Abbey officials say the claims made Wednesday by a national advocacy group for clergy molestation victims are inaccurate.
Read More

SNAP Letter to Abbot Klassen

August 9, 2006

Dear Abbot Klassen:

Founded in 1989, SNAP is a 7000+ member support group for women and men who have been wounded by sexually abusive priests, nuns, seminarians and bishops. We are the largest and oldest such self-help group dedicated to healing the wounded and protecting the vulnerable.
Read More

Monk kept his job after claims

COLLEGEVILLE – A member of the St. John’s monastic community continued to work at St. John’s Preparatory School for five years after he was accused of sexual misconduct.
Read More

Abbey names 3 more accused abusers

The names have been added to the list of St. John’s Abbey clerics who have faced allegations of sexual abuse recently or in the more distant past. The names of three priests accused of sexual misconduct, primarily in the 1970s and ’80s, have been released by St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., abbey officials said Wednesday.
Read More

The Likely Profile of Joshua Guimond’s Abductor

The offender responsible for Joshua Guimond’s disappearance, if foul play is involved, would have the following personal characteristics: above average intelligence; socially competent, with good interpersonal skills; employed in a skilled occupation; high birth order status (e.g., first-born son); a poor relationship with his father, who humiliated him in childhood; a childhood history of inconsistent discipline; a reliable means of transportation, most likely a late-model car in good condition; and a precipitating situational stress prior to the victim’s disappearance. More… The offender would be considerably older than traditional-age college students. He would be very familiar with the college campus from which the victim disappeared; it would be part of his territory, his comfort zone. He likely would be familiar with the schedules of campus buses and security officers and would know whether the campus has surveillance cameras and where they are located.
Read More

3 named in abuse allegations

COLLEGEVILLE – New allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced Friday against three members of the St. John’s monastic community. The Revs. Michael Bik, Bruce Wollmering and the late Rev. Robert Blumeyer were named in a statement by the abbey based on an annual review board report to Abbot John Klassen.
Read More

Abbey Press Release

COLLEGEVILLE, MN – Saint John’s Abbey’s External Review Board, established in 2003 as part of Saint John’s Abbey’s response to allegations of sexual misconduct by some of its members, has submitted its annual report to Abbot John Klassen, OSB, and the Abbey’s Senior Council. “We are deeply grateful for the support and guidance the Abbey has received from this group during a period of community healing and renewal,” the Abbot said. “I look forward to the Board’s ongoing service, recommendations and support as this process continues.”
Read More

IV Congress Guadalupano 2006

What better time than this year of the 475 anniversary of the apparitions of Santa María de Guadalupe to San Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. A group of experts will be present in the Capuchin church where Congress will take place from 26 to 28 July: Ana Rita Valero, Francisco Shulte, Eduardo Chavez, Fidel González Fernández, Fernando Ojeda Llanes, Arturo Rocha, among others.

Source: http://www.virgendeguadalupe.org.mx/noticias/IV%20Congreso/congreso_06.htm

Sister Nancy Bauer’s Reflection

“An anniversary is a time to recall the past and celebrate whatever merits celebrating and reconcile whatever needs reconciling. But more importantly, it is a time to turn toward the future… At this time, I would rather dream of the possibilities for the future than dwell on the problems of the past.”  – Sister Nancy Bauer (June 24, 2006)

Read More

Three accused of sexual misconduct

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — Three reverends of St. John University’s collegiate community were named in allegations of sexual misconduct Friday. According to a statement by the abbey, Rev. Michael Bik, 57, and Rev. Bruce Wollmering, 65, were named as being instigators of inappropriate sexual acts. – St. Cloud State (MN) – UniversityChronicle.com

Abbey: Please Report Abuse

St. John’s Abbey is asking those who have been victimized by a former St. Cloud pastor to come forward after last year’s revelations of sexual abuse in the St. Cloud diocese.
Read More

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton – Bulletin

The following is a statement from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and St. John’s Abbey, dated April 27, 2006.

In September, 2005, a 50-year-old man informed the Victim Advocate of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis that he was sexually abused as a young man by the late Father Robert Blumeyer, O.S.B., a priest of the Saint’s John’s monastic community. The report has been deemed credible.
Read More

Michael Bik’s Mother Dies

“My dear friends, far and near…. It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you of the death of my Mom in her sleep during last evening (April 2nd). As most of you know she had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease for the past 5 years, though in the fall she was re-diagnosed with something called Lewey Body dementia, a blend of Parkinson’s and Alzeheimer’s.
Read More