Today the Minnesota Supreme Court held in a four to one decision that clergy members will be held to the same standard of law as other professionals in the state, regardless of religion. In the case State v. Wenthe, a priest had an ongoing sexual relationship with an adult parishioner under the guise of counseling. As a result, the priest was convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for violating Minnesota Statutes section 609.344, subd. 1(l)(i) which prohibits sexual conduct between a clergy member and a parishioner during a single meeting when the purpose of the meeting …
News & Events
The news that two priests from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are taking leaves of absence for “misconduct” is alarming. Rather than tell the public the truth about the reasons for removing the priests, the Archdiocese continues to tell half-truths. We are alarmed about an Archdiocese that continues to mislead, deny, and conceal important information from the public…
Norberto Nierras says he saw the man with the shock of white hair all the time along Home Avenue, a residential block that teems with children from the Catholic elementary and high schools a few hundred yards away. The man, Nierras said, came and went as he pleased, strolling the Rutherford neighborhood or sitting on a bench outside the four-story building he called home: the St. John Vianney Residence for Retired Priests.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis did not require an abusive priest to give the church the names of every child he sexually assaulted, according to a document obtained by MPR News.
Penn State has agreed to pay $59.7 million to 26 sexual abuse victims of the former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky in exchange for an end to their claims against the university, Penn State announced Monday. Of the 26 settlements, 23 are fully signed and three are agreed to in principle, with final documentation expected in the next few weeks. Rodney A. Erickson, the president of the university, called the settlement “another step forward in the healing process for those hurt by Mr. Sandusky, and another step forward for Penn State.” He added, “We cannot undo what has been done,…
It’s Halloween and you should be scared in Minnesota. There are dozens of credibly accused clerical offenders of children whose names are only known to the Catholic bishops and kept secret. You don’t know who they are, and you don’t know where they are. What we do know is that they could harm our children and that the hierarchs in Minnesota from Duluth to St. Cloud to New Ulm, to Winona and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis know and have already determined the clerical offenders to be “credibly accused” of abuse of minors. But with only the desire to protect…
Doe 23 courageously filed suit today against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and Father Robert M. Thurner, who allegedly sexually abused Doe 23 in 1984-85 when she was a young girl and student at St. Joseph’s School in West St. Paul. Doe 23 likely would not have had to file this suit – would never have been molested by Thurner – had the Archdiocese’s hierarchy fulfilled its legal and moral obligations and reported Thurner’s prior admitted sexual abuse of another minor to law enforcement in 1982.The Archdiocese’s cover up of its priests’ sexual abuse of minors and other relat…
Father Robert M. Thruner On October 29, 2013 a lawsuit was filed on behalf of a woman in her 30s, naming as defendants Fr. Robert Thurner and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The lawsuit claims the Archdiocese was negligent in allowing Father Thurner continued access to children. In 1982, Thurner admitted to then-Archbishop Roach that he had sexually abused a 16 year-old boy and purchased alcohol for the boy. Despite Thurner’s admission, the Archdiocese chose to move Thurner into a new, unsuspecting parish where he subsequently abused Doe 23…
Media AdvisoryOctober 28, 2013 St. Paul News Conference Tuesday Father Robert M. Thurner Named In Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Documents confirm long-standing pattern and practice of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ handling of sexual abuse cases WHAT: At a news conference Tuesday in St. Paul, clergy sexual abuse attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan will: · Announce the filing of a Ramsey County lawsuit naming as defendants Father Robert M. Thurner and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on behalf of a woman now in her 3…
The pastor of a large Twin Cities parish has taken the unusual step of publicly questioning whether Archbishop John Nienstedt should continue in his post amid a widening priest sex abuse scandal. The Rev. Bill Deziel, who heads the 6,000-member Church of St. Peter, used his church’s Sunday bulletin to call for a “do-over” of archdiocesan leadership. “When things get this bad,” Deziel wrote to his parishioners, “sometimes a fresh start is needed for all involved.” Such a change, he said, “could get us moving again with all that Christ calls us to do.” Jim Accurso, spokesman for the Archdioces…
Duluth Catholic officials this month announced a priest “has recently been credibly accused” of molesting a girl and was “rather quickly” removed from ministry. Sound too good to be true? It is. Questioned by reporters, Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba admitted he received the abuse report more than a year ago. He admitted it took two months for him to oust the predator. And Duluth’s prosecutor says no one has told him anything about child sex abuse allegations against the priest, Fr. Cornelius Kelleher. Bishop Sirba left out a few facts as well. When the allegation came in, and when it was deemed…
T. PAUL, Minn. — Internal archdiocesan documents obtained by MPR News raise questions about what the University of St. Thomas knew about sexual abuse allegations against a professor in 2006. The documents show top church deputy Kevin McDonough investigated several allegations in 2006 that the Rev. Michael Keating sexually abused women and he planned to communicate his findings to an administrator at the University of St. Thomas. Keating, 57, is an associate professor of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas and a priest in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He went on te…
Internal memoranda between Archdiocesan officials recently obtained by Minnesota Public Radio indicate that the Archdiocese investigated several allegations of Fr. Keating’s misconduct with young women in 2006 and that the University of St. Thomas was to be made aware of the Archdiocese’s findings. Several Archdiocesan officials were involved in the investigation, including Fr. Kevin McDonough, Archbishop Harry Flynn, and Andy Eisenzimmer. During the course of the investigation…
The University of St. Thomas priest accused of sexual contact with a young girl expressed love and affection for her in e-mails he sent her from Rome when she was 14 and 15 years old. “Be really sure that I love you lots and lots and never think of you without a smile coming to my mind,” the Rev. Michael J. Keating wrote in one of at least 19 e-mails made public Thursday on the website of her attorney, Jeff Anderson of St. Paul. Anderson said the writings were presented to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis seven years ago in a church review of his client’s sexual abuse claim…