Father Dan Ward has influenced decisions made by other Benedictine monasteries, including Saint Martin’s Abbey in Lacey, and other religious orders and organizations. The result: Suspected and/or credibly accused offenders like Father Luke Travers (St. Mary’s), Father Edward Receconi (St. Martin’s), Father Tom Andert (St. John’s), Abbot Douglas Nowicki (St. Vincent’s), Brother Karl Walczak (Christian Brothers / O’Dea) and even Father Dan Ward himself have been able to prey on unsuspecting targets.
Letter to Archbishop Sartain re Father Dan Ward
October 19, 2012
Archbishop J. Peter Sartain
Archdiocese of Seattle
710 9th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104
Archbishop J. Peter Sartain,
Enclosed please find a letter that was sent to the Minnesota Bar Association on October 9, 2012 regarding the current investigation into sexual and other misconduct by Father Daniel Ward, OSB. As you are likely aware, Father Ward is a monk from Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. Father Ward currently lives in the Silver Spring, Maryland area and is executive director of the Resource Center for Religious Institutes (“RCRI”).
Despite these credible allegations of sexual and other misconduct (described in the attached letter) and the current investigation, Father Ward has not been called back to Minnesota. Instead, Father Ward is scheduled to speak at the RCRI conference in Orlando today and has celebrated mass on at least one occasion since the current investigation began on or around October 4, 2012.
According to a April 20, 2012 CNN article [ View ]:
“The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, the church’s doctrinal watchdog, on Wednesday announced the conclusion of a years-long “doctrinal assessment” investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents 80% of the Catholic nuns in the United States,” and, “The report singled out a Washington, DC social justice group called Network, which is run by nuns and the Resource Center for Religious Institutes, which assists members with financial and legal resources.”
I believe that any guidance, direction and/or legal advice provided by Father Dan Ward since the 1970’s should be carefully examined in light of these multiple allegations. It is precisely because of Father Dan Ward’s guidance that so many religious offenders have been able to escape social, civil and canonical penalty – and once faithful organizations have strayed from the Church’s teachings.
Father Dan Ward has influenced decisions made by other Benedictine monasteries, including Saint Martin’s Abbey in Lacey, and other religious orders and organizations. The result: Suspected and/or credibly accused offenders like Father Luke Travers (St. Mary’s), Father Edward Receconi (St. Martin’s), Father Tom Andert (St. John’s), Abbot Douglas Nowicki (St. Vincent’s), Brother Karl Walczak (Christian Brothers / O’Dea) and even Father Dan Ward himself have been able to prey on unsuspecting targets.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Very Sincerely,
Patrick J. Marker
patrickmarker@gmail.com
360-421-5849
