Fr. Eugene Kreuzer
Assignments:
- 1952 – 1971: St. Anthony Parish, Milwaukee, WI
- 1971 – 1991: St. John Baptist Parish, Union Grove, WI
Eugene Kreuzer Documents | Eugene Kreuzer Timeline
In May, 1991, 40 years after Kreuzer had been ordained, Bishop Sklba met with Kreuzer to discuss a recent report of sexual abuse. Kreuzer admitted that something happened several years ago when he had been drinking, and that he had no recollection of the details of the incident. Kreuzer further stated that he had stopped drinking, and that there was no cause for fear. A year later, Bishop Sklba had another meeting with Kreuzer to discuss another abuse report that had recently been received dating “many years back” when Kreuzer was assigned to St. Anthony’s Parish. After that meeting, Kreuzer agreed that he would request early retirement and get treatment. The following month, on June 30, 1992, Kreuzer retired from active ministry.
Over the following three-year period, Kreuzer made himself available for help-out work in parishes around Paris, Wisconsin. In May, 1995, Archbishop Weakland sent Kreuzer a letter imposing ministerial restrictions on him due to the allegations of misconduct placed against him, and requiring him to refrain from all contact with minors; to cease all public ministry; to avoid all places and situations that, from past experience, have been occasions of serious temptation in the area of sexual morality; and, until further notice, revoking the faculty to hear confession. Kreuzer wrote to the archdiocese agreeing to discontinue saying occasional weekday Masses, as he had been doing in Kansasville.
Later that year, Kreuzer wrote to Archbishop Weakland, referring to two incidents, one 30 years ago and another one dating to the spring of 1992, and sought to have the restrictions lifted. During the next four years, Kreuzer received permission to perform help-out work in various parishes. As of November, 1999, Archbishop Weakland had restored Kreuzer’s faculties for full help-out work with the only continued restriction being no unsupervised contact with minors.
In 2000, Archbishop Weakland declined Kreuzer’s request to have his restrictions modified, and recommended against Kreuzer getting involved in prison ministry.
Subsequently, in February, 2001, Bishop Sklba was given a report that Kreuzer had abused two boys on a youth retreat in the 1970s, and that Kreuzer had recently contacted one of the victims. Vicar for Clergy, Father Hornacek, contacted Kreuzer, who admitted that the individual may have been a victim of his sexual misconduct, but Kreuzer was unsure because he was inebriated at the time and had no clear memory of the incident.
Thereafter, Hornacek wrote Kreuzer to confirm his advice against contacting the victim. In March, 2001, a formal report was prepared to document sexual abuse by Kruezer in 1969 when the victim was 12-years-old. The following month, Bishop Sklba and Father Hornacek were advised that another victim of abuse by Kreuzer had come forward, and to make sure that all appropriate restrictions had been put in place so that none of Kreuzer’s victims could see him in public ministry. Shortly after receiving this latest report, a representative of the archdiocese wrote to the victim to apologize that he had been sexually abused by Kreuzer, stating that Kreuzer was one of the first to have been removed from ministry and placed under restrictions, and that the archdiocese would like to assist with his healing.
Before the end of April, 2001, Archbishop Weakland issued a precept to Kreuzer restricting him from all contact with minors, and requiring him to cease, until further notice, all public ministry; to avoid all places and situations that, from past experience, had been occasions of serious temptation in the area of sexual morality; to cease any and all activities and relationships that may be described under the broad category of pastoral counseling; and revoking, until further notice, the faculty to hear confession. The archdiocese renewed and reiterated these restrictions a number of times, up to and including a letter by Archbishop Dolan in February, 2003. Kreuzer acknowledged these restrictions, and, in March, 2005, signed the Clergy Advocacy and Monitoring Program Protocols detailing the restrictions that had been imposed on him.
On May 16, 2007, Kreuzer died.
In January, 2010, the archdiocese received a report documenting abuse perpetrated by Kreuzer during the period of 1961 to 1965 when the victim was 9-12-years-old.
In March, 2010, Archbishop Listecki sent a letter to Kreuzer’s victims thanking them for their courage in coming forward, stating that things were different now, that they were doing everything they could to ensure that the tragedy of sexual abuse does not continue in the Church or in society.
Pastoral Assignment Gathered From The Archdiocese of Milwaukee