Five Finalists For MMC Post… [Fr. Tim Backous]

Posted on September 28, 2010
Posted in St. John's Prep, Tim Backous

Mount Marty College has named the five finalists for its new president, with interviews slated to begin next week. The field, announced Monday, features a Benedictine monk, an attorney, college administrators and a businessman. The finalists, including a former Yankton resident, come from across the nation.

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Search for Jacob finds only pain

Posted on September 28, 2010
Posted in Jacob Wetterling, John Sanner

“If the individual responsible for this crime thinks they can breathe easier, that’s a huge mistake.”

(StarTribune) ST. JOSEPH, MINN. – Twenty-one years. And still no answer to the urgent question: What happened to Jacob?

In the three months since investigators returned to a farm near the spot where 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling disappeared to unearth dirt and ash, people across the state have wondered whether police would finally find evidence to crack a case that has haunted a community since that warm October night in 1989.

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Fr. Timothy Backous May Leave Prep School, Scandal

Posted on September 27, 2010
Posted in Francisco Schulte, Tim Backous

“As a member of the monastic community, Fr. Tim Backous (Headmaster of St. John’s Preparatory School in Collegeville, Minnesota) has been aware of credible allegations of sexual misconduct against Fr. Francisco Schulte for almost two decades. During that time, not a single letter has been sent, nor has there been any other coordinated effort, to contact all of Schulte’s potential victims. Like the rest of his monastic brothers, Fr. Backous remained quiet. Those who participated in the coverup, including Fr. Backous, are responsible for the pain suffered by the victims of abuse.” – May 21, 2010

A St. John’s Prep School parent sent the following earlier today:

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Email Updates

Posted on September 25, 2010
Posted in Web Site Updates

If you are interested in receiving updates (via email) from this web site, please click here.

Fr. Tom Andert’s Love Letters

Posted on September 22, 2010
Posted in John Klassen, Review Board, St. John's Prep, Timothy Kelly, Tom Andert

Despite a history of misconduct dating back to the 1970’s, Father Tom Andert is currently “Prior”, or second in command, at the monastery.

Below are copies of the love letters from Saint John’s Abbey monk Father Tom Andert to a high school student in 1994.  Abbot Timothy Kelly and other members of the community covered up the misconduct.

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Web Site Feedback

Posted on September 19, 2010
Posted in Opinion

First of all I would like to thank you for all of the work you have done in protecting children from such hideous crimes, and taking the time to expose certain disturbed individuals for who they really are.

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What if the Church’s own rules applied to it?

Posted on September 14, 2010
Posted in Opinion, Pope Benedict XVI, PR Machine

As we have recently been forcibly reminded, the Roman Catholic Church holds it better for the cries of raped and violated children to be ignored, and for the excuses and alibis of their rapists and torturers indulged, and for a host of dirty and wilful untruths to be manufactured wholesale, and for the funds raised ostensibly for the poor to be paid out in hush money and shameful bribery, rather than that one tiny indignity or inconvenience be visited on the robed majesty of a man-made church or any limit set to its self-proclaimed right to be judge in its own cause.

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Rev. Fran Hoefgen Officiated

Posted on September 3, 2010
Posted in Fran Hoefgen, Restricted List

According to the following obituary notice, Rev. Fran Hoefgen continues to perform some priestly duties.

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A Critical Investigation of Fr. Anthony Ruff

Posted on August 26, 2010
Posted in Anthony Ruff

I have recently visited the “Pray Tell” blog, which seems to be mostly run by a Benedictine priest, Fr. Anthony Ruff from St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. Yes my friends, the home of liturgical demolition. There are many other contributors to the blog, but I will be focusing on some of the statements made by Fr. Ruff. The blog claims the following, “a blog that gives practical wisdom about prayer, sacraments, and the community of the faithful – in short, worship. Created especially for pastors, liturgists, musicians, and scholars…” The blog in my opinion however, is a perfect illustration of everything that has gone wrong in the Church for the last 40 years. It espouses liberal slants on just about everything concerning Catholicism. I went on the blog and left a few comments, but most of them were deleted within hours of posting them because of my engaging opposition to Fr. Ruff’s liberal opinions on matters such as liturgy, theology and Thomism.

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Parents Meet About Wetterling Person of Interest

Posted on August 25, 2010
Posted in Jacob Wetterling

(FOX 9) ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Parents in Cold Spring met about the man who is considered a ‘person of interest’ in the disappearance case of Jacob Wetterling. He was announced as the new music teacher at a St. Boniface school.

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The abuse of children by clerics has left a permanent scar upon the soul of Ireland

Posted on August 23, 2010
Posted in Patrick Wall

BISHOPS who failed to report priests accused of sexually abusing children should be prosecuted in the courts, according to a former monk and canon lawyer. US attorney Patrick J Wall said nothing would change within the Catholic Church “until a bishop does jail time”.

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Another Alum Questions Support of St. John’s

Posted on August 16, 2010
Posted in Withholding Donations

I am impressed by your dedication to this important but daunting task. What a pity there has been so much dishonesty by the monks.

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Prior’s Reflection, Timothy Kelly

Posted on August 10, 2010
Posted in Roman Paur, Timothy Kelly

Important people come and go, live and die, emperors, popes, presidents. But we are especially grateful to Abbot Timothy, a giant among us, whom we can call by name and recognize as a friend.

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Abbey Counsel’s Statement Removed After Two Days

Posted on August 4, 2010
Posted in Aaron Raverty, BS, Michael Ford, PR Machine, Statements

According to an email sent by Aaron Raverty on August 2nd:

    “In our continuing effort to be responsible and to clarify our position and use of terminology, the abbey’s response team, in cooperation with legal counsel, has written this “Statement on the Legal Status of Accused Monks” that will be posted on the abbey website.”

Two days after it was put up, however, Michael Ford’s statement was removed from the St. John’s Abbey web site.

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Alum Withholding Donations Over Abuse Scandal

Posted on August 4, 2010
Posted in Bruce Wollmering, Opinion, PR Machine, Withholding Donations

I have been wanting to write a letter to both SJU and CSB to let them know how I feel; that I intend to withhold any donations; that I will never intend to send my children there, and that I plan to share this information and my thoughts on the matter with the people I know and love so that they are aware of what is going on there until and unless they take real action to rectify this situation.

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Nick Coleman dumped by SJU

Posted on August 4, 2010
Posted in BS, John Klassen, Nick Coleman, PR Machine, Tom Andert, Withholding Donations

“As long as St. John’s has this man on the payroll, I will no longer give my money to St. John’s,” Busch wrote. “I will not support lies and false statements and half truths about anyone.”

[Webmaster’s Note: This quote is not about Abbot John Klassen, Prior Tom Andert or any of the offending monks and other personnel at St. John’s Abbey, St. John’s University or St. John’s Prep School in Collegeville, Minnesota. Perhaps if more people withheld money for legitimate reasons [ Like this Alum ] , the Abbey would fully disclose the crimes committed by its members and representatives, and reach out to victims.]

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St. John’s bows to pressure and drops Nick Coleman

Posted on August 4, 2010
Posted in Nick Coleman, Withholding Donations

Brother, I suspect St. John’s University will be able to ride it out, but could a big institution look much worse than it does in Erin Carlyle’s City Pages story? The one about the Collegeville school caving in to conservative benefactors demanding it fire senior fellow/ex-Strib columnist Nick Coleman? Writes Carlyle: “In September, Len Busch, who has given $20,000 to the St. John’s theology department each of the last three years, authored a handwritten message [to the school] about Coleman. ‘As long as St. John’s has this man on the payroll, I will no longer give my money to St. John’s,’ Busch wrote. ‘I will not support lies and false statements and half truths about anyone.’ ”

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Counsel’s statement on legal status of accused monks

Posted on August 2, 2010
Posted in Francisco Schulte, Jim Phillips, John Klassen, Michael Ford, PR Machine, Statements
[Webmaster’s Note: This is yet another attempt by the abbey’s public relations team to shift the focus from the members of its community who have raped, sodomized and otherwise destroyed the lives of 100’s of victims who trusted the monks and other offending personnel in Collegeville. The new “individual safety plan” terminology makes no sense until you consider that what the abbey is protecting is their reputation, period. Having “restricted” or “supervised” monks is bad for business.

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New Board Member, Same Results

Posted on July 30, 2010
Posted in Allen Tarlton, Francisco Schulte, John Klassen, PR Machine, Review Board, Richard Jessen

There have been no public statements or annual reports from the St. John’s Abbey External Review Board in almost four years. Other than the Abbey’s claim that that it is an “independent external Review Board” [ View ] it is difficult to find any information about the board.

According to the Minnesota Judicial Branch website, Senior Judge Richard T. Jessen of Foley, MN has been serving on the board since 2007.

 

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Fox9 Investigators: Saint John’s Monks: Restricted, Really? (w/ Video)

Posted on July 28, 2010
Posted in Abbey Apology, Jim Phillips, John Klassen, Pat Marker, St. John's Prep, Statute of Limitations

(Fox9) COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – In 2002, the head of St. John’s Abbey told the public monks, who were accused of sexual misconduct, they would live under restrictions. Many thought it was a sort of house arrest, but that was not the case. The FOX 9 Investigators found just how easy it is for a so called restricted monk to leave St. John’s and befriend a family, a family that didn’t initially know about the monk’s restrictions because St. John’s had not made his name public.

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