MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio
Secret accounts paid for clergy misconduct but left church open to financial abuse
[Rev. Kevin McDonough’s memo to Archbishop Flynn et al regarding Rev. Kozlak’s retirement]
[Rev. Kevin McDonough’s memo to Archbishop Flynn: Rev. Skluzacek comments on Rev. Kozlak]
By Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
Jan. 23, 2014
The Rev. Stanley Kozlak served nearly three decades in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. But then he fathered a child and the archdiocese needed him gone.
Removing Kozlak quietly wouldn’t be cheap, but church leaders knew how to move money discreetly. The archdiocese held two secret accounts, controlled by the archbishop, designed to make problems like Kozlak disappear.
To get him out of active ministry, Archbishop Harry Flynn agreed in 2002 to pay the fallen priest $1,900 a month “disability” for life, plus $800 a month in rent for life, and $980 a month “to replace the social security payment until Father Kozlak reaches age 67 when he would receive his full social security.”
Kozlak’s package was part of a secret financial system that let archdiocese leaders divert millions of dollars away from traditional church work to deal with clergy misconduct.
Kozlak retirement agreement
From internal church files: In addition to monthly payments, Kozlak’s retirement agreement stipulated that he would receive money for rent and utilities, he would remain a Catholic priest, Archbishop Flynn would sign a letter stating Kozlak is not a pedophile and Kozlak’s attorney would negotiate a settlement to provide for his child. | Read the full document.
Internal financial reports show the archdiocese used the stealth accounts repeatedly, paying nearly $11 million from 2002 to 2011 — about 3 percent of overall archdiocese revenues in those years — for costs tied to clergy misconduct under Flynn and his successor, Archbishop John Nienstedt.
The system allowed archdiocese leaders to remove priests who had committed child abuse or other infractions without attracting attention. Lax accounting controls let church leaders cut checks to make problems go away.
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