ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
1987 memo on Fr. Kern
1992 memo on Fr. Kern
1993 memo on Fr. Kern
Sexual abuse victim letter to parish
By Lilly Fowler lfowler@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-82211
Archbishop Robert J. Carlson has reigned over Roman Catholics in St. Louis for the last five years.
But it is a historic lawsuit filed hundreds of miles away in his former home of Minneapolis that now stands as the archbishop’s most significant challenge — one that may determine both his legacy and his future.
The case will attempt to show that for years church leaders such as Carlson mishandled sexual abuse claims in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and allowed known abusers back into ministry to victimize others.
Already, the Minnesota case led to the release this month of a legal deposition of Carlson that triggered outcry over his response concerning laws about child sex abuse.
But that deposition is only the first in a long series of documents that will be released in the coming months under a judge’s order. The combined release of church records and court filings will for the first time give the public an inside look at Carlson’s tenure in Minneapolis.
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