All Possibilities Should Be Investigated in Guimond Case

Posted on November 11, 2004
Posted in Aubrey Immelman, Joshua Guimond

Tuesday [Nov. 9, 2004] marked the second anniversary of the disappearance of SJU student Joshua Guimond, and still there are no answers.
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This American Life: Act Two. Confession.

Posted on October 8, 2004
Posted in Dan Ward, Patrick Wall

Act two, Confession. We turn now to stories about people who are operating behind enemy lines in one way or another. And we begin with the story of a young priest who is sent out on a series of jobs by church administrators to squelch some problems. In spending time out among the people who he is supposed to be deceiving he finds it harder and harder to keep doing his job. Carl Marziali tells the story from Los Angeles.

Benedictine Abbot Eidenschink, retired head of Minnesota abbey, dies

Posted on June 28, 2004
Posted in John Eidenschink

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (CNS) — A funeral Mass was celebrated June 25 for Benedictine Abbot John Eidenschink, 89, who was abbot of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville from 1971 to 1979. The abbot died June 19 at St. John’s Abbey Health Center after a lengthy period of declining health.
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Appeals court upholds dismissal of St. John’s Prep sex abuse suit

Posted on June 22, 2004
Posted in Dunstan Moorse, Jeff Anderson, Timothy Kelly

ST. PAUL – The state Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former St. John’s Preparatory School student who accused a St. John’s Abbey priest of sexual abuse.
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Abbot who admitted to abuse dies

Posted on June 21, 2004
Posted in BS, John Eidenschink, William Skudlarek

COLLEGEVILLE (AP) – The Rev. John Eidenschink, a former St. John’s abbot who admitted he sexually abused two abbey monks, has died.
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Force of Habit

Posted on May 20, 2004
Posted in Angelo Zankl, Columba Stewart, Garrison Keillor, J.P. Earls, John Gagliardi, John Klassen, Matthew Luft, Paul-Vincent Niebauer, Simeon Thole, Tim Backous, Timothy Kelly, William Skudlarek

200406_Rake)SJAThe bells have been ringing for thirty minutes, but it is the sound of a cane rattling through the empty, cavernous church that suggests prayer. It is held by an old man, his stooped body covered in the flowing black habit of a Benedictine monk. He enters from the sacristy, clicking, clacking, up a barely perceptible incline. When he reaches the altar, he pauses and bows, then turns to the left and clicks and clacks his way upward to a lonely seat in the dark wooden choir.

View Article as PDF… Here

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Too Many Rumors, Too Few Answers

Posted on May 1, 2004
Posted in Allen Tarlton, Brennan Maiers, Cosmas Dahlheimer, Dunstan Moorse, Finian McDonald, Fran Hoefgen, John Eidenschink, John Kelly, John Klassen, Joshua Guimond, Richard Eckroth

Accused clergy remain at St. John’s Abbey, schools Abbot releases information to end ‘culture of secrecy’ that aids abuse
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Bruce L. Wollmering – Faculty Web Page

Posted on March 22, 2004
Posted in Bruce Wollmering

March 22, 2004
Bruce L. Wollmering, OSB, Ph.D., L.P.
Associate Professor
On leave for the 2003-2004 Academic Year
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The John Jay College Report and Saint John’s Abbey

Posted on February 27, 2004
Posted in John Jay Study, Settlement Information

February 27, 2004 — Today the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York released a report of its comprehensive compilation of sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy in the United States. Saint John’s Abbey participated voluntarily in the survey and submitted all relevant data to the John Jay College for inclusion in its report.
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Statement of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Posted on February 27, 2004
Posted in CMSM, John Jay Study

Upon the Release of the John Jay Study and the National Review Board Study

February 27, 2004 — At the national assembly of the leaders of religious institutes of men in August 2002, our members adopted a document that began, “Sexual abuse of minors is abhorrent. When the abuser is a trusted member of church or society who holds himself out as a healer, the abuse is magnified.”
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Dahlheimer Obituary

Posted on February 22, 2004
Posted in Cosmas Dahlheimer, Obituary

Webmaster’s Note: No mention of abuse in this obituary. There was an interesting statistic however: Over 250 novices and 35% of the current membership of the abbey learned from his words and example.
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Our Lady: Not Just for Catholics

Posted on December 12, 2003
Posted in Francisco Schulte

Any church wanting to attract Latinos “that doesn’t take into account how deeply that message [of Our Lady of Guadalupe] is rooted in the Latino identity … is pretty well doomed,” said Father Francisco Schulte, a scholar at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn.

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Keeping Hope Alive

Posted on November 9, 2003
Posted in Bob Pierson, Joshua Guimond

Written by the Rev. Bob Pierson, OSB, Chaplain/Director of Campus Ministry, Saint John’s University
from the St. Cloud Times, Sunday, Nov. 9
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More Than 200 Leaders Explore Sexual Abuse Legal Issues

Posted on October 1, 2003
Posted in Dan Ward

The Legal Resource Center for Religious held a one-day multidisplinary workshop entitled “Sexual Abuse: The Continuing Response.” Held immediately prior to the LCWR national assembly, the workshop drew more than 200 participants who explored the civil and canon law issues involved in the sexual abuse crisis. The workshop also looked at new issues that have arisen including relationships with dioceses as they strive to comply with the national policies set by the bishops and with their own new diocesan policies.

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Football Family Values (Gagliardi/ESPN.com)

Posted on September 9, 2003
Posted in John Gagliardi

“John [Gagliardi] is the glue that holds the St. John’s community together.”

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Former ‘fixer’ now helps the abuse victims

Posted on September 6, 2003
Posted in Patrick Wall

He liked the job at first. His superiors liked him. He was 26, he was moving fast, and he was doing God’s work. But by the time he’d taken over his fourth parish in four years, he realized he wasn’t doing God’s work at all. He was doing the bidding of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. And those two things, in his mind, were not remotely the same.
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Court to Consider Expelling Clergy

Posted on July 6, 2003
Posted in Allen Tarlton, Andre Bennett, Brennan Maiers, Cosmas Dahlheimer, Dunstan Moorse, Finian McDonald, Fran Hoefgen, Francisco Schulte, Isaac Connolly, John Eidenschink, John Kelly, John Klassen, Richard Eckroth, Thomas Gillespie, William Skudlarek

A Minneapolis man who accuses St. John’s Abbey of “harboring pedophiles” has filed a court action demanding the removal of 11 monks and priests from St. John’s property.
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Abuse lawsuit involving St. John’s Abbey priest dismissed

Posted on July 2, 2003
Posted in Dunstan Moorse, John Kelly, Timothy Kelly

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former St. John’s Preparatory School student accusing a St. John’s Abbey priest of sexual abuse, saying it was filed too late.
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Review boards work toward healing

Posted on July 2, 2003
Posted in BS, David Clohessy, Joelle Casteix, John Klassen, Review Board, SNAP

In the wake of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic church, diocese across the country have set up policy review boards. Two boards in central Minnesota are beginning their work, one at St. John’s Abbey and the other at the St. Cloud Diocese. Their purpose is to monitor the church’s policies and response to sexual abuse. Church officials say the boards have been thoughtfully developed. They say many have a mix of non-Catholic as well as Catholic members, abuse victims and law enforcement officials. But victims’ rights groups are less optimistic. They doubt the review boards will have the power to make any real change in church policy.
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Abbot John Klassen, OSB, Response to St. Cloud Times Editorial

Posted on June 26, 2003
Posted in Jeff Anderson, John Klassen, Review Board

June 26, 2003 — I commend the St. Cloud Times for its thoughtful editorial, “A year later, how is the Catholic church doing?” And I welcome the invitation the Times extended to me to provide an update on my work and on life at Saint John’s Abbey over the last year.
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