MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio
Madeleine Baran St. Paul, Minn.
Sep 16, 2014
Efforts by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to cover up clergy sex abuse stretch back to at least the 1950s — a decade earlier than previously revealed, according to documents released today by victims’ attorneys.
The archdiocese file on the Rev. Louis Heitzer shows that bishops used now-familiar strategies to protect Heitzer from prosecution nearly six decades ago. During the 1950s and 60s, four bishops failed to notify police of allegations that Heitzer sexually abused several boys. Instead, the archbishops transferred Heitzer to 14 parishes over his 27-year career.
The 152 pages, released as part of a clergy sex abuse lawsuit that accuses the archdiocese of creating a public nuisance by keeping information on abusers private, raise questions about how long Catholic leaders in the Twin Cities have covered up abuse.
Memos and letters show a pattern of secrecy by Archbishop John Murray, who served as the third archbishop of St. Paul from 1931 to 1956, Archbishop William Brady, who served from 1956 to 1961, Archbishop Leo Binz, who served from 1961 to 1975, and Coadjutor Archbishop Leo Byrne, who served from 1967 to 1974.
The previously confidential documents reveal a world in which church leaders protected priests who sexually abused children and downplayed complaints from parents and their children, while victims suffered in silence without the aid of support groups or therapy.
Heitzer, a German immigrant who died in 1969, spent less than a year at most parishes before bishops quietly sent him elsewhere. In a 2002 letter, then-vicar general Kevin McDonough described Heitzer as “perhaps the most abusive priest ever to be a part of this Archdiocese. I now believe that he abused boys every place he went.”
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