MICHIGAN
The Mining Journal
MARQUETTE – Officials of the Catholic Diocese of Marquette have deemed credible a recent allegation of sexual abuse of a minor made against a deceased religious order priest from Belgium.
The allegation was lodged against the Rev. Bernard (“Father Ben”) Van der Schueren, S.J., a priest of the Society of Jesus, commonly called the Jesuits. The complaint deals with an incident involving a boy that happened during July of 1989 when Van der Schueren filled in for a diocesan priest at St. Michael Parish in Marquette, according to a press release from the diocese.
Van der Schueren died in 2009 at the age of 86.
As soon as the allegation was received, diocesan officials immediately began following the Diocese of Marquette’s Policy on Sexual Misconduct in Ministry, the release said. In keeping with that policy, the complaint was referred to Jesuit leadership, in this case, the Chicago-Detroit Province.
In addition, the Office of the Administrator of the Diocese of Marquette informed the Diocesan Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People of the complaint, and the diocesan attorney reported the allegation to the Marquette County Prosecutor’s Office.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.