Abusive Priest List Must Be Released

By Dan Nienaber
Mankato Free Press
January 28, 2015

http://www.mankatofreepress.com/news/local_news/abusive-priest-list-must-be-released/article_c02990db-7832-5b17-9415-f104fce87e12.html

A Ramsey County judge has ordered the Diocese of New Ulm to release all the records it has pertaining to reports of sexual abuse by any of its priests prior to 1978.

That order includes a New Ulm Diocese list of priests who were credibly accused of molesting children. It is the only Catholic diocese that hasn't made its list public, either voluntarily or through a court order. The lists were created during an investigation into abusive priests throughout the country that was started by the Catholic Church.

District Court Judge John H. Guthmann made the order through a lawsuit that has been filed by a man who is claiming he was molested by the late Rev. J. Vincent Fitzgerald while he was a 13-year-old altar boy at St. Thomas More Church in Lake Lillian. The man, identified as Doe 30 in court documents, reported the assaults took place at another church in Squaw Lake, which is a town northeast of Bemidji, while he was traveling with Fitzgerald.

Another man, identified as Doe 19, has filed a lawsuit claiming he was molested by Fitzgerald at another northern Minnesota church. Guthmann's order requires the Diocese of New Ulm to release the list and other information about Fitzgerald and at least 11 other priests identified through the church investigation. That information and previously unreleased information from the Diocese of New Ulm must be turned over by Feb. 17, said Jeff Anderson, the St. Paul attorney representing Doe 30.

Guthmann's order went against a Diocese of New Ulm claim that information about other priests wasn't relevant. He said any prior information the diocese had about any priest could show the circumstances surrounding the abuse, how children were groomed for abuse, how vulnerable victims were and what steps were taken to keep other priests from abusing children.

"Information about any and all alleged priest abuse, reports of priest abuse, the investigation of priest abuse, or the failure to act upon reports of alleged priest abuse is directly relevant to what defendants knew or should have known prior to the abuse experienced by (the victim)," Guthmann said.

His order also denied a request by Anderson to have access to information about abusive priests that was created after 1978, which is when Fitzgerald's abuse allegedly occurred. A protective order obtained by the diocese through an earlier motion will keep the information that is released sealed from the public.

"Defendants finally have to disclose to (Doe 30) what they knew about abusive priests, when they knew it and how they responded," Anderson said. "We again urge them to publicly disclose this information. Only through full, public disclosure will there be transparency, justice and healing for survivors."

The Diocese of New Ulm did not respond to a request for an interview or provide written response to the order. Officials there have not said why the diocese has not followed the lead of several other dioceses by releasing its list of credibly accused priests.

Contact: dnienaber@mankatofreepress.com