ST. LOUIS (MO)
Riverfront Times
By Sam Levin Mon., Sep. 16 2013
In July, a local family filed a lawsuit agains the Archdiocese of St. Louis, alleging that Archbishop Robert Carlson attempted to cover up a priest’s sex abuse and tamper with evidence in the process. This suit, surrounding Father Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang, was filed after Carlson was subpoenaed in the criminal investigation of Jiang (who is accused of repeatedly molesting a teenage girl in her home). As the case moves forward this month, victims’ rights groups are arguing that Carlson’s inadequate response reflects a long history of mishandling abuse allegations.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), an advocacy group based in St. Louis, has provided Daily RFT with newly released documents from 1984 relating to a case at the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, involving then bishop Carlson. The letters, the group argues, shed light on his decades of direct experience with these kinds of cases and repeated efforts to downplay abuse.
“It’s the antithesis of what a caring shepherd should do,” says David Clohessy, SNAP executive director.
The files are noteworthy because they offer a rare glimpse into a top church official’s direct statements and response on sex abuse allegations and they also highlight just how long Carlson has dealt with these kinds of controversies — a history which, Clohessy says, should better inform his efforts today. …
A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of St. Louis sends Daily RFT this lengthy rebuttal from SNAP, which we’ve printed here in full:
In the last two decades Archbishop Robert J. Carlson has become a voice for transparency in clergy sex abuse cases. The experiences he had with reporting clergy misconduct to church leadership in the Archdiocese of St. Paul – Minneapolis in the early 1980’s have influenced the way he handles these cases today as an archbishop. By the time clergy sex abuse unfolded on a national scale in 2002, then Bishop Carlson led the way in South Dakota where he worked with the state’s attorney and offered to open up the church’s files. Bishop Carlson also required local, state, and national background checks for priests who came in from other dioceses along with other diocesan workers.
Fr. Kevin McDonough, Director of Safe Environment for the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, previously stated, “As frequently as possible in public forums, I credit Archbishop Carlson for taking steps in the 1980’s to break the culture of clerical secrecy in our Archdiocese. The work of Bishop Carlson as early as the first half of the 1980’s in St. Paul-Minneapolis is still a model of responsible citizenship of honest, open cooperation with public officials and especially concern for the safety of children thirty years later.”
In June of 2002 the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) established the Dallas Charter, a comprehensive set of procedures for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy. In the Archdiocese of St. Louis, the requirements of the Dallas Charter are fulfilled by our Safe Environment Office and the Office of Child and Youth Protection. Since 2002, one-hundred thousand people have completed this program. Any adult who is employed by or volunteers in our parishes and institutions who works with minors is required to complete the “Protecting God’s Children” program, which teaches how to recognize questionable behavior, to implement practices for the safety of children, and to take necessary steps to address even the suspicion that a cleric or Church worker has done something inappropriate.
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