ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
by Lilly Fowler lfowler@post-dispatch.com 314-340-822110
It was supposed to be a happy day for Archbishop Robert J. Carlson.
Tuesday marked the fifth anniversary of his installation as St. Louis’ archbishop, the shepherd of the region’s Roman Catholics.
But any celebrating on the part of Carlson was done in the midst of nationwide headlines about his connection to the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church for more than a decade.
On Monday, attorney Jeff Anderson released a deposition in which Carlson said he was uncertain whether during his time as auxiliary archbishop in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis he knew that a priest engaging in sex with a child constituted a crime.
Over and over, for a total of 193 times throughout the deposition, Carlson said he did not remember in response to questions posed by Anderson.
The deposition, taken last month, is part of a sexual abuse lawsuit in Minnesota involving the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona, Minn.
Carlson’s statements have angered many, prompting hundreds of comments on social media and news websites. The fact that he was a man of the cloth pleading ignorance has made the situation worse for some.
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