ST. LOUIS (MO)
Waiting for Godot to Leave
Kevin O’Brien
In seeking to dismiss a civil lawsuit against the archdiocese of St. Louis, Archbishop Robert Carlson has vehemently denied one of the allegations against him … sort of.
The suit was filed regarding the alleged behavior of Fr. Joseph Jiang, who is charged with the crime of molesting a 15-year-old girl. Archbishop Carlson has been subpoenaed to give a deposition in that case, but has so far manged to avoid doing so. The trial has been delayed several times.
Meanwhile, the girl’s parents have filed a civil suit against the archdiocese for negligence in not properly supervising the priest, who was a personal favorite of Archbishop Carlson’s, perhaps living with him in the archbishop’s mansion (there are conflicting reports of this), and at least having been taken by Carlson under his wing in a kind of mentor relationship.
Carlson’s denials in the civil suit avoid the merits of the case, seeking dismissal on technicalities – which is well within his rights, though perhaps not the most Christian thing to do. However, at one point, in a footnote, the archbishop
vehemently denies the baseless allegations set forth by Plaintiffs in Count VI (Attempted Tampering with Evidence)
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