MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation
02/11/2015
Jennifer Haselberger
But I don’t think they meant to…
Earlier today, the Communications department of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis issued a statement regarding the disclosure of 4 additional names and histories of men ‘who have substantiated claims against them of sexually abusing a minor while they were assigned as priests, or, in the case of one, before he was a priest’. (the law firm of Jeff Anderson and Associates released 17 names today).
I would assume that most of us are rather tired by now of these oh-look-what-we-just-discovered disclosures, but today’s is particularly noteworthy because of who is included: Raimond Rose, FSC.
The news that Brother Rose has been credibly accused is not new. In 2010 a lawsuit was filed alleging that he had abused twenty-one minor victims at seven different schools, including De La Salle in Minneapolis. What is new is that the Archdiocese has mistakenly identified him as a member of the clergy, subject to the restrictions of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People/Essential Norms, and capable of being ‘removed from ministry’.
Brother Raimond Rose is a member of the Brothers of Christian Schools- an institute of lay men dedicated exclusively to the mission of education. They are not priests (and probably would be offended to be mistook for one)! Brother Rose did not abuse while a priest, nor did he abuse ‘before he was a priest’. He was never in formation to become a priest. That is simply not what Christian Brothers do.
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