OR--Secret records about ex-OR abusive cleric are released

By David Clohessy
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
January 19, 2016

http://www.snapnetwork.org/or_secret_records_about_ex_or_abusive_cleric_are_released

Long-secret records about a child molesting Catholic cleric who worked in Oregon have been released because abuse victims insisted on the disclosure as part of a legal settlement. Oregon church officials should tell parents, parishioners and the public about him.

He’s Father Raymond Francisco Schulte. (His photo is at BishopAccountability.org) As recently as 2010, he was living in Rome. But around 1998, he worked at three missions of the Parish of St. Patrick in Madras, Oregon (in the Baker diocese).

http://www.andersonadvocates.com/Posts/News-or-Event/62/St-Johns-Abbey-faces-new-abuse-suit.aspx

He is accused of sexually molesting a child in 1988 and of knowing about abuse by two other clerics (Br. Dunstan Moorse and Br. John Kelly). His Catholic supervisors claim he’s living a “restricted” lifestyle in Minnesota at St. John's but has reportedly traveled often, including to Italy. Two boys filed a civil abuse and cover up suit against him in 2010 and one year later, another similar suit was filed in Puerto Rico. At least one of those suits has settled. And church officials from two institutions – St. John’s Abbey and the St. Cloud diocese – have included his name on lists they’ve made public of credibly accused clerics.

Portland Archbishop Alexander Sample and Baker Bishop Liam Cary should personally visit the parishes near where Fr. Schulte lived or worked (even temporarily), begging victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to come forward. They should also use parish bulletins, church websites and pulpit announcements across the entire diocese to seek out others who may have been assaulted and are still suffering. And they should permanently post on his diocesan website the names, photos and whereabouts of every child molesting Oregon are cleric, whether alive or dead, diocesan or religious order, or admitted, proven or credibly accused. (About 30 US bishops have done this. It’s the bare minimum a bishop should do to protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded.)

We hope that every single person who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups in Oregon will summon the strength to speak up. Kids are safer only when victims, witnesses and whistleblowers are courageous enough to act. Silence is tempting but it only helps wrongdoers.

It’s important that people with suspicions or knowledge of these crimes and cover ups call the independent professionals in law enforcement, not the biased amateurs in church positions.

Fr. Schulte also worked in the Bahamas, Rome, Mexico City, Raliegh (North Carolina) and two Minnesota dioceses: Crookston and St. Cloud. (More information about him is at AndersonAdvocates.com and BishopAccountability.org)

NOTE – The attorneys involved in the records release are Jeff Anderson (651 227 9990 office, 612 817 8665 cell, jeff@andersonadvocates.com) and Mike Finnegan (651 227 9990 office, 612 205 5531 cell, mike@andersonadvocates.com). The Minnesota church spokesman who’s responsible for information about Br. Sculte is Brother Aelred Senna (320 363 2004, asenna@csbsju.edu, 320 363 2085 phone, 320 363 3039 (fax sjainfo@csbsju.edu).