ILLINOIS
Belleville News-Democrat
BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK AND BETH HUNDSDORFER
News-Democrat
February 14, 2015
A lawsuit against a Catholic priest last assigned to Belleville has resulted in a court order by a Minnesota judge requiring the religious organization that operates the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows to turn over any records of alleged molestation of minors by clergy from 1949 to 1978.
The order affects offices of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in all 50 states, which must turn over records of child abuse pertaining to any priest that occurred during the nearly three decade span. The Oblates at the Shrine have until March 27 to comply.
The inclusive dates are based on when the late Rev. James V. Fitzgerald was ordained and when he allegedly sexually abused two young brothers during a fishing trip in Minnesota.
Fitzgerald, known by his middle name of “Vincent,” worked at parishes in Minnesota and South Dakota until his assignment in 1994 at age 75 to the Shrine in Belleville. Until his death in 2009, Fitzgerald resided at St. Henry’s Oblate Residence, 200 N. 60th St., Belleville.
The Rev. James Brobst, Midwest Area councilor for the Oblates, said when Fitzgerald was in Belleville, he “did not have a ministry.” Brobst referred questions as to whether Shrine administrators knew at the time of Fitzgerald’s assignment to Belleville that he had been accused of child abuse to the religious order’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Rev. William Antone, the provincial who heads the order in the United States, could not be reached for comment.
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