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.
(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.
There are several stories here:
1. In 2002, two former St. John’s Prep School students brought claims of sexual abuse against Br. Phillips. Br. Phillips allegedly fondled both of these victims, and sodomized one of the victims with his thumb. St. John’s Abbey settled these two claims of sexual abuse (and possibly several others) against Br. Phillips.
“This is Abbot John Klassen calling from St. John’s and I am returning your calls. I was finally successful in speaking to [name] regarding Br. Jim Phillips. I spoke with her directly about the fact that Br. Jim is living with supervision, that there were two allegations from the 1980’s, early 80s, that we did an investigation, that despite his denial of these events, nevertheless, he was not convincing of his account of events, that he has been living with supervision since that time.”
Brother Jim was removed from public ministry immediately at the time your allegation came to our attention in August 2002 and has been at the abbey since that time. At no time since has he had access to minors as part of his work.
After more than eight years of covering up credible allegations of sexual abuse by one of its members, a source at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN has admitted that Br. Jim Phillips is a “Monk Under Supervision”.
Br. Jim Phillips in mid-1970’s
Abbot John, I have now spoken to both victims. Victim #2 has been devastated by the abuse. Any details will identify her or her family. She is scared and alone because of the abuse and your coverup.
This morning we were contacted by a second victim of Fr. Othmar Hohmann.
On Wednesday evening, Minneapolis television station Fox9 [ Link ] will air a report on Br. Jim Phillips, a monk at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota.
We have learned that Br. Isidore Glyer was removed from his position at the Prep School after allegations of inappropriate activity surfaced.
Monks with a Safety Plan may not have social relationships or individual contact with vulnerable persons of any age on the Saint John’s campus or off-campus, in any setting.
Webmaster’s Note: This Official Statement should be read carefully. The Abbey continues to hold itself, and its offending monks, to such a low standard of responsibility and accountability. Sadly, offending monks are failing to meet even the low expectations set by the Abbey.
The following monks from St. John’s Abbey have web sites:
Fr. Tom Andert
Fr. Timothy Backous
Br. Dennis Beach
Fr. Nickolas Becker
Br. Isaac Connolly
A gay priest sex scandal has rocked the Catholic Church in Italy today after a weekly news magazine released details of a shock investigation it had carried out.
ROME – The Italian church says gay priests must not lead a “double life,” expressing pain and anger over a magazine article and video purporting to show priests frequenting gay locales in Rome.
They also specify that priests who acquire, possess or distribute child pornography will be considered to have committed a serious offence subject to the same disciplinary action as abusers.
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican on Thursday made sweeping revisions to its laws on sexual abuse of children by priests in its latest attempt to tackle a scandal that has shaken the Catholic Church around the world.
Brennan Maiers, pedophile priest from St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota was reportedly out in public (without supervision, again) on Wednesday July 14th.
Ron Westrum, professor of sociology at Eastern Michigan University, suggests that organizations react in a series of stages to “anomalous reports.” They are: 1) suppression, 2) encapsulation, 3) public relations, 4) local fix, 5) global fix, and 6) investigation of root causes. He came to his formulation through the study of the battered child syndrome that many people, even professionals, found hard to admit was a widespread phenomenon.
Br. Isaac Connolly [ Link ] took his down.
Fr. Finian McDonald [ Link ] did the same.
Now Fr. Brennan Maiers is taking a shot.
At St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, several members of the Order of St. Benedict live under restrictions imposed by Abbot John Klassen. Some members faced with the possibility of restrictions have taken leaves from the order to consider whether they wish to remain members of the order. Klassen said in 2002 that as many as 15 monks or priests were on restriction at the abbey, including former Abbot John Eidenschink. Klassen last month declined an interview request from the Times to discuss the current state of the abbey and the monks on restriction.
