Ferdinand Kaiser
On October 7, 2014 the priest file of Father Ferdinand Kaiser was released to the public. Along with Kaiser’s file, the files of thirteen other priests with credible allegations of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Winona were also released. The files were obtained as part of the Doe 1 v. Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona civil lawsuit filed in Ramsey County in May 2013. The lawsuit was made possible due to the Child Victims Act passed by the Minnesota legislature.
Father Ferdinand Kaiser, ordained June 5, 1937, worked in nine different parishes in the Diocese of Winona before his resignation in March 1968. Father Kaiser’s name was included on a list of clergy members credibly accused of child sexual abuse released by the Diocese of Winona on December 17, 2013 as part of a court order. The list publicly identified 14 priests named in the John Jay Charter Study in 2004.
According to the Diocese of Winona list, as well as our own investigation, Father Kaiser worked at the following parishes:
- 1937 – 1938: Saint Agnes, Kellogg, MN
- 1938-1941: Saint Felix, Wabasha, MN
- 1941 – 1943: Saint John, Caledonia, MN
- 1943-1944: Saints Peter and Paul, Blue Earth, MN
- 1944 – 1946: Saint Mary, Geneva, MN and Assumption, Caledonia, MN
- 1946: Nativity of Blessed Virgin, Harmony, MN
- 1946: Saint Mary, Preble, MN
- 1947-1951: Assumption, Canton, MN
- 1952: Retired, Waseca, MN
- 1952: All Saints, New Richland, MN
- 1954-1958: Resided at 606 5th Street SW, Waseca, MN
- 1959: St. Joseph’s, Owatonna, MN
- 1960: Resided 606 5th Street SW, Waseca, MN
- 1961 – 1962: Absent/On sick leave
- 1963-1967: Retired – St. Anne’s Hospice
- 1967-1968: Saint Jarlath, Iosco, MN
- 1970-1971: On duty outside Diocese, Jemez Springs, NM
- 1972: On duty outside of Diocese of St. Francis Village, Crowley, TX
- 1973: Resided at 606 5th Street NW, Waseca, MN
- 1973: Deceased