(SC Times) A listening session Sunday at Church of the Holy Spirit regarding Michael Weber lasted three hours, and the St. Cloud diocese has scheduled a second session for Dec. 19.<\/p>\n
About 35 people attended along with eight counselors and the four-person Diocesan Response Team, said Jane Marrin, member of the response team and diocese spokeswoman.<\/p>\n
The session was called after the diocese received what it called credible allegations against Weber, who was a deacon at Holy Spirit in late 1969. Weber, who went on to an award-winning career in child protection, is accused of sexually abusing at least three boys in the late 1960s. Weber, 67, is a Foley native and St. John\u2019s University graduate who lives in the Twin Cities.<\/p>\n
The second session was scheduled because \u201cthe statements and the concerns were so compelling,\u201d Marrin said.<\/p>\n
There were statements directly about Weber and many about what the diocese knew and when and what was done, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA majority of the concern was about why the diocese didn\u2019t do anything sooner,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Rick Stolpman, who filed a police report last month alleging Weber abused him at Weber\u2019s family\u2019s Foley home more than 40 years ago, wanted to know why St. John\u2019s wasn\u2019t represented at the meeting. Weber was with the diocese until the early 1970s, but he worked as a mentor in a College of St. Benedict\/St. John\u2019s entrepreneurship program until the allegations last month. And St. John\u2019s knew before last month about Weber, Stolpman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want some answers. They knew,\u201d he said about St. John\u2019s. \u201cI don\u2019t fault the people who are at Holy Spirit now. It\u2019s really not their fault.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weber has not responded to media requests.<\/p>\n