WI–Vatican rules against Madison predator priest

WISCONSIN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Aug. 28, 2015

For more information: Peter Isely of Milwaukee, 414 429 7259, peterisely@yahoo.com, David Clohessy of St. Louis, 314 566 9790 cell, davidgclohessy@gmail.com, SNAPclohessy@aol.com

Vatican rules against predator priest
Child molesting cleric worked in nine WI towns
He once unsuccessfully sued one of his victims
SNAP: “Madison bishop must warn others about him”

A Vatican panel has upheld penalties against a suspended serial predator priest who worked in nine Wisconsin towns. Now a support group for clergy sex abuse victims wants Madison’s Catholic bishop to warn the public of his whereabouts and “aggressively reach out to anyone else he may have hurt.

Last month, a public relations staffer for Bishop Rorbert Morlino wrote in the diocesan newspaper that the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome “confirmed the finding” of lower church panels that Fr. Gerald Vosen “is guilty of two offenses (of sexual misconduct) with minors under the age of 16.”

“Vatican officials have apparently chosen to not defrock this repeat sex offender, so he’s still apparently getting money from Morlino’s diocese,” said Peter Isely, Midwest Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “So for the safety of kids, Morlino should disclose where Fr. Vosen is now. He should insist that Fr. Vosen live in a remote, secure, professionally-run treatment facility. And Morlino should personally visit each place where Fr. Vosen worked, begging victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call police so this dangerous abuser might be prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned. That’s what a caring shepherd would do. That’s what best protects kids.”

“It’s not enough for church officials to say ‘he’s too dangerous. We’ll take his collar and his parish. But that’s all we’re gonna to do,’” said Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, SNAP’s outreach director. “Fr. Vosen belongs in jail. Morlino could and should help put him there, by using pulpit announcements, parish bulletins and church websites to prod others with information or suspicions about his crimes to call police.”

At one point, Fr. Vosen sued one of his accusers for slander. He lost.

Fr. Vosen worked in churches in Paoli, Verona, Avoca, Clyde, Madison, Cottage Grove, Reedsburg, Janesville and Baraboo, all in Wisconsin. http://www.bishopaccountability.org/assign/Vosen_Gerald_P.htm

In the mid-1960s, at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Madison, Fr. Vosen worked with Fr. Lawrence M. Trainor who was also later accused of sexual abuse.

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