Sister Anne Marie Biermaier Made Aware of Allegations

Posted on April 25, 2011
Posted in Ann Marie Biermaier, Othmar Hohmann, St. Ben's, St. Benedict's, St. Joseph Lab School

On April 18, 2011, Sister Anne Marie Biermaier, O.S.B. from Saint Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, Minnesota (USA) was contacted via telephone by Patrick Marker regarding allegations of misconduct made against her.  It has been alleged that two incidents of misconduct, involving the same young girl over a period of approximately four years in the 70’s, took place at St. Joseph Lab School in St. Joseph, Minnesota.

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Saint Benedict’s Monastery (Wikipedia)

Posted on April 25, 2011
Posted in St. Ben's, St. Benedict's

Saint Benedict’s Monastery is a monastery of the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict, in St. Joseph, Minnesota. The Sisters trace their roots to Saint Walburg Abbey in Eichstätt, in the Kingdom of Bavaria. Six of them emigrated to St. Cloud in 1857, moving to St. Joseph in 1863. Mother Benedicta Riepp, considered the founder of Benedictine women’s communities in the United States, is buried in the monastery cemetery.

The Sisters from St. Ben’s

Posted on April 21, 2011
Posted in St. Ben's, St. Benedict's

A partial list of nuns from Saint Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, Minnesota (USA).

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SJU Alum: No More Donations

Posted on April 20, 2011
Posted in Web Site Feedback, Withholding Donations

Patrick, as a SJU alum from the 1960s, I commend your difficult but necessary work. The Abbey  is clearly unwilling to  “own” its crimes and shows little regard for those victimized. The abbot is unwilling to to be honest about the extent of sex abuse and demonstrates his inability to lead the community in any productive way.

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Recent Feedback

Posted on April 20, 2011
Posted in Web Site Feedback

Below are several emails and feedback regarding this web site and Saint John’s Abbey’s handling of the issues related to misconduct by members of its community.

“Without your website I believe I’d still be piled under tons of self-blame, guilt, depression, fear, anguish….need I go on?    I am emerging to see the light of day, a happier self. I now hope to reach out to help others but I need to go slow, be stronger. You help others to be strong and not alone, to see where the blame really belongs, on the abuser and the institution that is complicit by their cover up and silence and utter deliberate or non-deliberate stupidity.” – April 20, 2011

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Protected: Dissecting a Cover-Up

Posted on April 20, 2011
Posted in SG

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Abbot Klassen Still Doesn’t Get It

Posted on April 20, 2011
Posted in BS, John Klassen, Pat Marker, Web Site Feedback

An excerpt from an April 15, 2011 article [ View ] in the St. John’s University student newspaper regarding the recent “Listening Sessions” held by Abbot John Klassen:

One audience member asked Klassen to address the website Behind the Pine Curtain, run by Patrick Marker, as many think this is the only source to find information regarding pending cases. “It’s a real thorn in our sides because the person who runs that has one agenda and that is to run St. John’s into the ground,” Klassen said.

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Monastic Rebuttal

Posted on April 19, 2011
Posted in Cody Maynus, Opinion

“I know for a fact that many monks felt demonized and ostracized by the Record’s article. That is hardly ethical and it is hardly Benedictine. Let’s live our values, shall we?” – Cody Maynus, SJU sophomore

Monastic Rebuttal

Dear Editor,

As a Lutheran whose personal formation has been greatly influenced by the Benedictine men and women of these institutions, I feel like I have the obligation to speak up and voice my opinions regarding last week’s article about the clergy sex abuse scandal on campus.

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St. John’s Names an Offender, 38 Years Later

Posted on April 19, 2011
Posted in BS, James Kelly, Settlement Information

The letter that St. John’s Abbey agreed to send to former St. Prep School students for whom the St. John’s alumni office had current addresses (approximately 64% of graduates and 15% of non-graduates) went out this week.

However, instead of including the names of seventeen offending monks as originally announced, the list includes eighteen names.

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Abbot: Pavkovich “Shouldn’t Be” at St. John’s

Posted on April 18, 2011
Posted in John Klassen, Lay Faculty, Michael Ford, Steve Pavkovich

According to Abbot John Klassen in June of 2010, former Prep School teacher Steve Pavkovich is not allowed at St. John’s. When asked in 2010 why Pavkovich was still visiting campus from time to time, Klassen responded, “shouldn’t be.” This “restriction” dates back several years and was put in place after allegations of misconduct, involving one or more female victims at St. John’s Prep School, were made.

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Abbot: Settlement Involving Prefect in 2002

Posted on April 16, 2011
Posted in John Klassen, Lay Faculty, Settlement Information, Terry DeSutter

According to Abbot John Klassen in June of 2010, St. John’s Abbey settled a complaint against former St. John’s Prep School prefect Terry DeSutter in 2002.  At the time of the misconduct, several “prefects” lived in the boy’s dormitory at the Prep School. Some prefects were also teachers.

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Abbot addresses community, abuse cases

Posted on April 15, 2011
Posted in Jeff Anderson, John Klassen, Pat Marker, Robert Koopmann, Settlement Information

Abbot John Klassen broke the silence Wednesday and apologized for not publicly addressing the St. John’s community sooner.

Abbey Letter Lists Eighteen

Posted on April 15, 2011
Posted in Uncategorized

The letter listing the names of eighteen monk offenders is available… Here

Abbey Letter Lists Eighteen Offending Monks

Posted on April 15, 2011
Posted in Allen Tarlton, Andre Bennett, Brennan Maiers, Bruce Wollmering, Cosmas Dahlheimer, Dunstan Moorse, Finian McDonald, Fran Hoefgen, Francisco Schulte, Isaac Connolly, James Kelly, Jim Phillips, John Eidenschink, John Kelly, John Klassen, Michael Bik, Richard Eckroth, Steve Lilly, Thomas Gillespie

I am posting this open letter to you because I wish to publicly acknowledge that the following monks have had credible allegations of sexual abuse, exploitation, or misconduct brought against them while they were working in one of the apostolates of Saint John’s Abbey, or before they were a member of the abbey. – Abbot John Klassen

[Webmaster’s Note: The version of this letter that appeared on the abbey’s web site from April of 2011 until the summer of 2012 did not include a date or abbey letterhead.  The letter (see links, at bottom) also failed to name the other monks and other Saint John’s personnel against whom credible allegations of misconduct [ View ] had been made and/or settled.

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Klassen Fails to Answer His Own Question

Posted on April 12, 2011
Posted in Bruce Wollmering, Francisco Schulte, James Kelly, John Klassen, Mathias Faue, Paschal Brisson, Peregrin Berres, Pirmim Wendt, Robert Blumeyer, Robert Burke, Steve Lilly

In an email to the St. John’s community dated April 12, 2011, [ View ] Abbot John Klassen’s wrote, “Some of you may be asking why the issue of abuse keeps coming back in the media.”

Abbot Klassen never answers the question. Instead, he changes the subject.

“The cases that we settled are not for recent misconduct. Individuals come forward when they are ready to deal with the impact of the misconduct.”

Here’s the answer:

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SJU Employee Regarding Klassen’s Email

Posted on April 12, 2011
Posted in BS, John Klassen

I wanted to bring up something about the email [ View ] that was sent from the Abbot to Faculty/Staff/Students on April 12th. In Klassen’s attempt to be more open and honest about this situation they disabled forwarding and replying features of the email. I wonder why they would go to the effort of sending such an email and attempt to prevent people from sharing it?

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Abbot Klassen’s Letter to St. John’s Community

Posted on April 12, 2011
Posted in Abbey Apology, Abbot Apologies, John Klassen, Letters to Community, Settlement Information, Statements

Dear Members of the Saint John’s Communities,

Over the past years, I have been very aware of the fact that it is not only the monks who feel the impact of allegations of misconduct by members of our monastic community. All of you, our students, our faculty, staff, and administration, both here and at Saint Ben’s, feel the impact of these past events. I am deeply sorry for the harm done to survivors, and also for the pain it causes you now.

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Listening Sessions on Wednesday

Posted on April 12, 2011
Posted in John Klassen, Settlement Information

Members of the Saint John’s Campus Community (faculty, staff & students) are invited to attend a listening session with Abbot John Klassen, about the issues of misconduct that were recently in the news. Abbot John will start with brief opening comments and then the session with be open for any questions you may have.

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Covering Abuse Expenses

Posted on April 12, 2011
Posted in Benedict Leuthner, John Klassen, Michael Bik, Settlement Information, Timothy Kelly

In a 1998 memo regarding abuse by Michael Bik, Abbot Timothy Kelly made it clear that Saint John’s Abbey, not the individual monk, covers the cost of abuse (including counseling payments for victims). Abbot Timothy Kelly wrote:

“With his monastic vows, of course, Fr. Michael has no independent income and is unable to pay anything. This would leave it up to the abbey to cover costs…”

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Sex abuse scandal kept quiet

Posted on April 8, 2011
Posted in Jeff Anderson, John Klassen, Settlement Information

This article is available… Here