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:
· July 8, 1937 Saint Agnes, Kellogg, MN
· March 2, 1938-1941 Saint Felix, Wabasha, MN
· October 1941 Saint John, Caledonia, MN
· June 9, 1943-1944 Saints Peter and Paul, Blue Earth, MN
· November 22, 1944 Saint Mary, Geneva, MN and Assumption, Caledonia, MN
· July, 1946 Nativity of Blessed Virgin, Harmony, MN
· July, 1946 Saint Mary, Preble, MN
· 1947-51 Assumption, Canton, MN
· 1952 Retired, Waseca, MN
· December 3, 1952 All Saints, New Richland, MN
· 1954-58 Resided at 606 5th Street SW, Waseca, MN
· 1959 St. Joseph’s, Owatonna, MN
· 1960 Resided 606 5th Street SW, Waseca, MN
· 1961-62 Absent/On sick leave
· 1963-67 Retired – St. Anne’s Hospice
· April 15, 1967-1968 Saint Jarlath, Iosco, MN
· 1970-71 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 until his death on
January 3, 1973
Ministerial Status: Voluntary resignation in March, 1968.