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	Snap, Archdiocese Differ on Ex-Vianney Chief Serving As a Visiting Priest By William C. Lhotka St. Louis Post-Dispatch August 2, 2007 http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/ 6451F7F9F0DC1AF98625732B00073C31?OpenDocument Kirkwood — The Rev. Robert Osborne should be barred by the St. Louis Archdiocese from serving as a visiting priest and celebrating Mass at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Kirkwood, say members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. At a news conference Wednesday in front of the New Cathedral on Lindell Boulevard, SNAP official Judy Jones and national director David Clohessy criticized Archbishop Raymond Burke for allowing Osborne — accused of sex abuse of a teenager — to perform ministerial duties. But Monsignor Richard Stika, a spokesman for the archbishop, said Osborne has been cleared by three investigations of any wrongdoing. Osborne is the former president of Vianney High School in Kirkwood. Osborne's lawyer, Robert Haar, called SNAP's allegations nonsense. He added: "It is time to move on. Father Osborne should carry on his duties as a priest and fully intends to do so." SNAP's Jones cited a settlement in June between the Marianist Province of the United States — the religious order to which Osborne belongs — and attorneys for the 18-year-old who had accused Osborne of molesting him two years ago when he was a Vianney student. Jones said church officials could have fought the teen's allegations in court but chose to settle. Terms of the settlement are confidential. Haar said Osborne took no part in the negotiations. In June, Diane Guerra, a spokeswoman for the Marianist Province of the United States, said the order's insurance carrier advised the Marianists to settle the case. "This is not an admission of guilt on Father Osborne's part," she said. "If the insurance company had not forced us to settle, we would have gone to trial." Osborne's photograph is listed on the St. Peter's website and he is called a "visiting priest." Stika said Osborne was essentially a fill-in who celebrates Mass on occasion. Stika said an internal investigation of the Marianists, and investigations by Kirkwood police and St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch determined that the allegations were not credible. "The presumption is that he is innocent," Stika said. "Lawsuits are settled for a variety of reasons."
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