Note: Abbot John Klassen is no longer a credible speaker with regard to the sexual abuse crisis. His well-documented handling of the sexual abuse crisis has been a failure. Abbot John Klassen and the abbey’s continued (and even very recent) choice to deceive, rather than fully disclose, will have a devastating impact on the entire St. John’s community.
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Abbot John will address issues within the contemporary Church that continue to be a source of pain and contention for many within the Church. Topics to be addressed include the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, same sex relationships, marriage ad procreation, and shared ministry and clerical-lay relationships.
Abbot John Klassen is in his 10th year as leader of Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN. He leads the community of 145 Benedictine monks who sponsor and work at Saint John’s University, Saint John’s Preparatory School, and The Liturgical Press as well as in parishes, hospitals and retirement centers mainly in Minnesota, and in small monastic communities in Nassau, Bahamas, and Fujimi, Japan. He received his doctorate in bio-organic chemistry from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1985. He taught chemistry at Saint John’s Prep School (1972-77) and Saint John’s University (1983-2000), and was the director of the university’s senior seminar program (1986-88), and of the Peace Studies Program (1988-90). He served as a faculty resident of student housing (1983-89). Abbot John was the director of monastic formation for the abbey from 1993-99. He has been a director of a Benedictine Values program for the lay faculty and staff of the university, and he recently co-authored an essay on “Catholic, Benedictine Values in an Educational Environment.”
Thursday, July 29 (9:00 – 10:15 am) Keynote speaker Abbot John Klassen
