MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, Jan. 6
Statement by Frank Meuers of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 952-334-5180, frankameuers@gmail.com )
A church insider-turned-whistleblower says that an Iowa bishop may temporarily replace St. Paul’s embattled Catholic archbishop. We hope she’s wrong. We hope Pope Francis will pick someone else.
In a 12/30 blog post, Jennifer Haselberger writes that “Persistent rumors suggest that Nienstedt will either resign or be removed shortly after a bankruptcy filing, and it has been suggested that former auxiliary and now-Bishop of Des Moines, Richard Pates, will be appointed to serve as apostolic administrator until a successor can be found.” Again, we hope this does not happen.
— In June of last year, Minnesota Public Radio reported on the “investigation into the Rev. Francisco ‘Fredy’ Montero, a priest from Ecuador who returned to his native country amid a criminal investigation into whether he sexually abused a four-year-old girl.” Pates could and should have done more to warn the public about him, help police investigate him and prevent his fleeing overseas during a criminal investigation.
–Also in June of last year, we criticized Pates for “being far too secretive and lax about the credibly accused child molesting cleric that he has suspended.”
We said: “For the safety of kids, Pates should disclose where Fr. Howard Fitzgerald, is now. He should disclose when Catholic officials first received allegations of child sexual abuse against Fr. Fitzgerald. He should put Fr. Fitzgerald into a remote, secure treatment center so he’ll be kept away from kids. And he should personally visit every parish where Fr. Fitzgerald worked, begging victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call police, so that Fr. Fitzgerald might be criminally charged, convicted and be kept away from kids even longer. In short, Pates is not saying or doing enough about Fr. Fitzgerald. Pates has pledged to be “open” about clergy sex abuse cases. He should honor that pledge right now.”
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