Posts Tagged Minnesota Public Radio
On April 10, 2014 — seven months into the clergy sex abuse scandal — Archbishop John Nienstedt’s top advisers gathered for a private meeting. They had just received several affidavits from an internal investigation of Nienstedt that had been authorized by the archbishop himself to address damaging rumors.
“The sworn statements accused Nienstedt of inappropriate behavior, according to people who read them, including sexual advances toward at least two priests …
“Nienstedt had authorized the investigation with the expectation that it would clear his name. Instead, it threatened to ruin it. At the meeting last spring, the advisers went around the room. Each said Nienstedt should resign.”
By Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio — Click here to read the rest of this story.
accountability, Archbishop John Nienstedt, Archdioces of St. Paul and Minneapolis, bishops, catholic, catholic bishop accountability, catholic bishops, catholic church, catholic hierarchy, Catholics, child sex abuse, child sexual abuse, clergy, clergy sexual abuse, clericalism, Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio, Nienstedt, roman catholic church, sexual abuse scandal, transparency, U.S. bishops, vatican, voice of the faithful
Documents made public Monday (Aug. 10) in a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis show that Archbishop John Nienstedt made false statements under oath in April about his knowledge of a priest accused of child sexual abuse.”
By Madelein Baran, Minnesota Public Radio — Click here to read the rest of this story.
accountability, Archbishop John Nienstedt, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, catholic bishop accountability, catholic bishops, catholic church, catholic hierarchy, child sex abuse, child sexual abuse, clergy, clergy sexual abuse, clericalism, Madelein Baran, Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio, roman catholic church, sexual abuse scandal, transparency, U.S. bishops, voice of the faithful
Voice of the Faithful® posted a link here several days ago to Minnesota Public Radio’s documentary Betrayed by Silence. The station’s expanded story about the Catholic clergy child sexual abuse and cover-up scandal in Minnesota’s Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is available now in four chapters on its website. Click on the titles below for individual chapters in the Betrayed by Silence story.
Betrayed by Silence
For decades, leaders of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have been reassigning, excusing and overlooking sexually abusive priests among their ranks. Some received additional retirement benefits. In August, a top church lawyer, shocked at what she saw, brought the story to MPR News. What happened next is still unfolding.
It all began in Lafayette
After clergy sex abuse rocks a Louisiana diocese, a newly appointed bishop develops the tactics he’ll later use in Minnesota.
The church protects its own
With the abuse scandal threatening to spread beyond control, an archbishop and a victims’ attorney become adversaries.
Archbishop makes vow, breaks it
Harry Flynn helps craft the U.S. church’s tough-sounding response to the abuse crisis, but then he disregards it at home.
Cover-up unravels from the inside
A new archbishop’s top adviser wants no part of the decades-long effort to protect abusive priests and keep their crimes secret.
accountability, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, catholic bishop accountability, catholic church, catholic hierarchy, catholic priests, child sex abuse, child sexual abuse, clergy sexual abuse, clericalism, Lafayette, Lousiana, Madeleine Baran, Minnesota, Minnesota Archbishop Nienstedt, Minnesota Public Radio, MPR, mpr news, priests, roman catholic church, sexual abuse scandal, sexually abusive priests, transparency, U.S. bishops, voice of the faithful
The hour-long documentary Betrayed by Silence on Minnesota Public Radio presents the systemic coverup by three archbishops of the St. Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese, including the current one, over the sexual abuse of children in that diocese — all the while, the archbishops were professing publicly to the contrary. Whether one believes it represents lying, denial, or anything else, the piece demonstrates conclusively what has become the systemic pattern of Catholic hierarchy’s response to the pervasive evidence of sexual abuse of children by clergy. In no other part of our society would such blatant contradictions be tolerated without accountability of those responsible.
Click here to listen to this documentary.
Posted by William Casey, former Voice of the Faithful® Board of Trustees Chairman
accountability, archbishops, catholic church, catholic hierarchy, catholic priests, child sex abuse, child sexual abuse, clergy, clergy sexual abuse, clericalism, Minneapolis Archdiocese, Minnesota Public Radio, roman catholic church, sexual abuse of children, sexual abuse scandal, St. Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese, transparency, U.S. bishops, voice of the faithful, William Casey
Faced with tough questions under oath last month, former Twin Cities archbishop Harry Flynn said at least 134 times that he could not remember how he handled clergy sexual abuse cases during his 13-year tenure, according to documents made public Wednesday (Jun. 4).
“Flynn, 81, retired six years ago. He said he didn’t have dementia or other diagnosed memory problems. ‘I think it has more to do with age than anything,’ he said, although he noted that he has been diagnosed with cancer, pneumonia and Legionnaires’ disease.”
By Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio — Click here to read the rest of this story.
accountability, Archbishop Harry Flynn, Archdioces of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, catholic bishop accountability, catholic bishops, catholic church, catholic hierarchy, catholic priests, child sex abuse, child sexual abuse, clergy, clergy sexual abuse, clergy sexual abuse cases, Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio, MPR, priests, roman catholic church, sexual abuse scandal, Twin Cities, voice of the faithful
The list symbolized all that victims believed was wrong about the Catholic Church’s handling of abuse claims — the secrecy, the failure to warn the public, the hidden offenders. Victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson received the list under court seal as part of a lawsuit in 2009. In December, a judge ordered the archdiocese to release the names to the public. The secrecy appeared finished.
“But it wasn’t. The list of 33 was incomplete. An MPR News investigation has found the actual number was more than double the archdiocese’s official count. The priests served in nearly every parish in the archdiocese.
They include men who admitted abusing children, such as the Rev. Gerald Funcheon, who testified under oath in 2012 that he had sexually abused a number of boys. ‘I couldn’t count ’em up,’ he said. ‘I’ll go, I don’t know. I’ll go to 18 … I can’t give you a number on this.’”
By Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Here is a follow-up story by Brian Roewe in National Catholic Reporter, Report Alleges Larger List of Abusive Priests in Twin Cities
accountability, alleged abusers, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Brian Roewe, catholic bishop accountability, catholic church, catholic hierarchy, catholic priests, child sex abuse, clergy, clergy sexual abuse, clericalism, Gerald Funcheon, Jeff Anderson, Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio, MPR, national catholic reporter, priests, roman catholic church, secrecy, sexual abuse scandal, transparency, Twin Cities, U.S. bishops, voice of the faithful
The Rev. Stanley Kozlak served nearly three decades in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. But then he fathered a child and the archdiocese needed him gone.
“Removing Kozlak quietly wouldn’t be cheap, but church leaders knew how to move money discreetly. The archdiocese held two secret accounts, controlled by the archbishop, designed to make problems like Kozlak disappear.
“To get him out of active ministry, Archbishop Harry Flynn agreed in 2002 to pay the fallen priest $1,900 a month ‘disability’ for life, plus $800 a month in rent for life, and $980 a month ‘to replace the social security payment until Father Kozlak reaches age 67 when he would receive his full social security.’
“Kozlak’s package was part of a secret financial system that let archdiocese leaders divert millions of dollars away from traditional church work to deal with clergy misconduct.”
By Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio — Click here to read the rest of this story.
accountability, Archbishop Harry Flynn, Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, catholic bishop accountability, catholic bishops, catholic church, catholic church finances, catholic hierarchy, catholic priests, child sex abuse, church finances, church leaders, clergy sexual abuse, clericalism, Father Kozlak, Kozlak, Minnesota Clergy, Minnesota Public Radio, MPR, priests, rev. Stanley Kozlak, roman catholic church, sexual abuse scandal, Stanley Kozlak, Tom Scheck, transparency, U.S. bishops, voice of the faithful
We found interesting the juxtaposition of the following two stories listed one after the other in one of the Internet news roundups we read today. The first is a letter to The New York Times from the chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, and the second is a Minnesota Public Radio story about clergy sexual abuse in the Minneapolis and St. Paul Archdiocese.
accountability, Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, catholic bishop accountability, catholic bishops, catholic church, catholic hierarchy, catholic priests, child sex abuse, clergy, clergy sexual abuse, clericalism, Minnesota Public Radio, roman catholic church, sexual abuse scandal, The New York Times, transparency, U.S. bishops, vatican, voice of the faithful
One night on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota nearly four decades ago, a 36-year-old Roman Catholic priest asked a young boy to share his bed. The boy was about 9 or 10 years old. As he climbed into bed, he asked the priest a question: Are you going to molest me, like my relative does when he asks me to spend the night? The answer was yes. What happened that night remained secret.” By Madeleine Baran, Tom Scheck, Sasha Aslanian, Minnesota Public Radio
Read and listen to the rest of this story by clicking here.
accountability, Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, catholic bishop accountability, catholic church, catholic hierarchy, catholic priests, child sex abuse, church, clergy, clergy sexual abuse, Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio, priests, religion, roman catholic church, roman catholic priest, Sasha Aslanian, sexual abuse scandal, Tom Scheck, transparency, U.S. bishops, voice of the faithful
‘He needs to stand before us and explain himself,’ the Rev. Stephen O’Gara, pastor of the Church of the Assumption (St. Paul, Minn.), said in a Sunday (Oct. 27) homily. ‘Only then will we have the respect called to his office. It’s about arrogance, and we all fall victim to arrogance in some degree or in some place in our lives. But this is more. This is not some small matter. This is a big deal. It’s the first time, I must say, in 69 years that I’m embarrassed to be Catholic.'” By Madelaine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio — Read Baran’s entire article by clicking here.
accountability, Archbishop John Nienstedt, Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, catholic bishop accountability, catholic bishops, catholic church, catholic hierarchy, catholic priests, child sex abuse, church, clergy, clergy sexual abuse, clericalism, Madelaine Baran, Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio, priests, religion, roman catholic church, sexual abuse scandal, Stephen O'Gara, the Church of the Assumption, transparency, U.S. bishops, voice of the faithful
A lay movement for governance reform in the Roman Catholic Church, responding to the clergy sexual abuse scandal and supporting survivors.
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