A Letter from Abbott John Klassen, O.S.B. ’67

Posted on April 1, 2003
Posted in BS, Gordon Tavis, Jeff Anderson, Jerome Thiesen, John Klassen, Letters to Community, Review Board, Timothy Kelly

Last June I pledged to you to do all in my power to lead Saint John’s monastic community through a period of healing and reconciliation, and all 183 of our confreres joined me in that pledge. Because you are an important and valued member of Saint John’s extended family, it is important to me and Fr. Gordon Tavis to keep you posted from time to time on our progress.

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The Financial Picture of Saint John’s Abbey

Posted on February 6, 2003
Posted in Abbey Statistics, Benedict Leuthner, John Klassen, Settlement Information

“Abbot John Klassen has given his assurance that financial gifts from our benefactors and funds from the university, prep school and The Liturgical Press are not and will never be used in the payment of settlements in the sexual abuse cases involving community members. Financial compensations to victims of sexual abuse by monks come rather from the labor of the abbey’s monks.” – Benedict Leuthner, 2003
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Aloysius Michels Obituary

Posted on February 3, 2003
Posted in Aloysius Michels, Obituary, Raymond Pedrizetti

Aloysius Reinhart Michels, OSB 1913—2002

At the funeral of Father Aloysius, Prior Raymond Pedrizetti, OSB, reminded the community of the variety of the deceased’s assignments during his over sixty years as a priest.
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Defending a monk – Letters – Letter to the Editor

Posted on January 24, 2003
Posted in Richard Eckroth, Vessels, Wetterling

This letter responds to your article “Scandal at the abbey” (NCR, Dec. 13). I am a brother to Benedictine Fr. Richard Eckroth, who received the most coverage of 11 monks accused of sexual abuse in your article. He is one of two at St. John’s Abbey who deny guilt. In its concentration of attention on those who deny charges, your report echoes the local print and broadcast media. Does any newsperson ever consider that some accused priests might actually be innocent? The tradition of “innocent until proven guilty” which, I hope, still pervades American justice, certainly does not apply to media reporting on this subject.
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From Monk to Sex Plaintiffs’ Advocate

Posted on January 19, 2003
Posted in Patrick Wall, Richard Sipe, William Skudlarek

As a Benedictine monk, Patrick Wall gained the reputation as a fix-it priest for the Catholic Church. His first four assignments wearing a Roman collar: straightening out parishes tainted by molestation and financial scandal.
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Letters to the Editor: Therapy raised no doubts

Posted on January 17, 2003
Posted in John Klassen, Richard Eckroth

* The two articles that appeared in recent issues reporting on the response of St. John’s Abbey to allegations of sexual abuse were generally accurate and fair (NCR, Dec. 13 and 27). However, in an accompanying article headlined “Father is `lion at the gate’ pressing case against priest,” a statement is made about one of our monks that calls for clarification.
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Abbot Timothy Kelly Elected, Blessed

Posted on January 1, 2003
Posted in Baldwin Dworschak, Jerome Hanus, Jonathan Licari, Melvin Valvano, Timothy Kelly

At the end of the mass Abbot Timothy noted that the shepherd’s staff he had received pointed to the teaching of Saint Benedict that the abbot is “believed to hold the place of Christ in the monastery.” He is taking Christ the Good Shepherd as his model. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for others, but only time would tell how he would be able to fulfill the task placed on him.

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Letter to the Editor – Correction Notice

Posted on December 27, 2002
Posted in ISTI, John Klassen, Richard Sipe, Timothy Kelly

* There was a misstatement in the article on St. John’s in Collegeville, Minn. (NCR, Dec. 13). I served as the first chair of the board of St. John’s Interfaith Sexual Trauma Institute in 1994-96. I did feel that the commission of the institute was eventually “compromised,” as the author notes, but certainly not because “one of the board members was an alleged abuser.” When I entered office I was fully aware that several of the board members were survivors of abuse and others were recovered offenders along with the health care professionals and pastoral theologians. I have unqualified and continued respect for the members of the board.
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Father is `lion at the gate’ pressing case against priest

Posted on December 27, 2002
Posted in Jeff Anderson, John Klassen, Richard Eckroth, The Liturgical Press, William Skudlarek

Ed Vessel said he was “disinvited” to the Oct. 1 news conference at which St. John’s Abbey and Jeffrey Anderson, attorney for victims of sexual abuse by abbey monks, jointly announced a broad financial settlement of claims against the abbey.
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Monks suffer with abusers in the family

Posted on December 27, 2002
Posted in Columba Stewart, Finian McDonald, Fran Hoefgen, John Klassen, Paul-Vincent Niebauer, William Skudlarek

The shame, anger and soul-searching that have gripped much of the U.S. Catholic church in the wake of an avalanche of sex abuse scandals this year have been felt acutely by the band of Benedictines who comprise the monastic community at St. John’s Abbey here.
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Commentary… The St. John’s Solution: Shoulder Blame

Posted on December 22, 2002
Posted in Jeff Anderson, John Klassen, Opinion

In an effort to exorcise its own demons, an abbey in Minnesota may be setting a commendable example for the rest of the Roman Catholic Church.
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Greetings in this Christmas Season and in the New Year!

Posted on December 21, 2002
Posted in BS, John Klassen

In this season of hope, we once again prepare ourselves to show hospitality to Jesus, who is born into our world as the Christ and the Prince of Peace. “Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth!” In a world that continues to be filled with the joys and sorrows of the human condition, God invites us to rise above the noise of life and to make a place in our hearts for this powerful message. Then we will find in the new year a greater realization of the promise of that holy night.
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Scandal at the Abbey – Part 1

Posted on December 13, 2002
Posted in Allen Tarlton, Brennan Maiers, Cosmas Dahlheimer, Fran Hoefgen, ISTI, Jeff Anderson, John Eidenschink, John Klassen, LINKUP, Paul-Vincent Niebauer, Richard Eckroth, Richard Sipe, St. John's History, Timothy Kelly

Its reputation for learning and liturgy, publishing and holiness, ecumenism and even bread-making are legendary and have grown over its 146-year existence, making St. John’s Abbey here — with its impressive abbey church and signature bell tower — a jewel in the Minnesota prairie landscape.
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Abbey has turned corner in abuse scandal, victims’ attorney says

Posted on December 13, 2002
Posted in Jeff Anderson, John Klassen, SNAP

Only five months ago, attorney Jeffrey Anderson of St. Paul lambasted Benedictine monks at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., as “the worst among the orders — the darkest of the dark.”
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St. Cloud woman says diocese knew about sexual abuse allegations

Posted on December 11, 2002
Posted in Review Board, Susan Fuchs-Hoeschen

ST. CLOUD (AP) — A woman who said she was sexually abused by a priest says the St. Cloud Diocese knew about her allegations for almost a decade while the priest volunteered at St. Cloud Hospital.

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Star Tribune Works Catholic Abuse Story

Posted on December 10, 2002
Posted in Editorial

For years, the Star Tribune, like other news organizations in Minnesota, had covered clergy abuse on a spot news basis, documenting each lawsuit and occasionally writing general stories about the church’s response. But last spring, when news broke that St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., had been restricting the activities of 13 priests and brothers because of abuse allegations, the newspaper had an opportunity to show readers how an emerging national crisis had manifested itself in our own state.
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Four missing people — just a tragic coincidence?

Posted on November 20, 2002
Posted in Joshua Guimond

In the two weeks after Halloween, three college men disappeared from Minneapolis, Collegeville, and Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Around the same time, a 21-year-old woman in Brainerd failed to show up for work, and has not been seen since. Despite constant media exposure and massive search efforts, all four are still missing, and authorities are still waiting for the one tip or stroke of luck that might yield some answers. If the cases are linked, a break in one might solve them all. But at this point it seems just as likely all four are only connected by a tragic coincidence.
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Young People Are Missing; Authorities Are Baffled

Posted on November 17, 2002
Posted in Joshua Guimond

ST. CLOUD, Minn., Nov. 16 ? Joshua Guimond, 20, an honor student at St. John’s University, stepped away from a card game in a campus apartment shortly after midnight last Saturday, walked down the hall, and vanished.
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Troops widen search for St. John’s student

Posted on November 14, 2002
Posted in Joshua Guimond, Wetterling

Minnesota National Guard troops slogged into swampy, wooded terrain around Collegeville, Minn., on Wednesday, widening the search for missing St. John’s University student Josh Guimond.
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Archbishop: Victims of sex abuse are top priority

Posted on October 26, 2002
Posted in Jerome Hanus

WATERLOO (AP) – The Archbishop of Dubuque told priests and Roman Catholic church leaders they must recommit to their vows of holiness and virtue while regaining the faith of parishioners.

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