MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune
By: Tom Olsen, Duluth News Tribune
For the third time in eight months, the Catholic Diocese of Duluth is the subject of a lawsuit seeking the public release of thousands of documents detailing the history of priest sex abuse cases in Northeastern Minnesota.
The suit, filed Wednesday in State District Court in Ramsey County by an alleged abuse victim, makes the same demand for the Diocese of New Ulm — the only diocese in the state that has not yet released a list of its priests who have been “credibly accused” of abuse.
The alleged victim, identified in court documents only as “Doe 30,” claims that he was abused by Father James Vincent Fitzgerald at St. Catherine’s Church in Squaw Lake as a 13-year-old in 1976. Attorneys for the man and other victims claim that the diocese likely has thousands of documents detailing the church’s handling of abuse cases, including Fitzgerald’s.
The diocese, however, said on Wednesday that no abuse allegations were ever brought against Fitzgerald during his 26 years working at six Northland parishes.
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.