St. John’s Abbey, one of the largest Benedictine monasteries in the U.S., released more than 15,000 pages of documents Tuesday (Jan. 19) related to 18 priests it said “likely offended” sexually against minors dating back to the 1960s.

“The disclosure comes as the latest chapter in the jagged history for the Benedictine community in Collegeville, Minn., on the issue of clergy sexual abuse, one that at times has seen it attempt to lead in understanding the epidemic but at others fall ill to the plague of its horrors. Like many others before them, the disclosed documents provide a recounting of what the abbey knew when regarding each monk — nearly half of whom have died — and often the attempts to shuttle them from place to place to avoid possible lawsuits and scandal.”

By Brian Roewe, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.