MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation
11/30/2015
Jennifer Haselberger
Recently, parishioners and others interested in the fate of St Peter Claver Catholic School, located in what used to be St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood, received some interesting news (see newsletter below; n.b. the newsletter is dated Fall 2014, but the content clearly indicates that it was issued in the Fall of 2015). The longtime pastor of the parish, Father Kevin McDonough, has apparently ceded operational control of the school with Father Charles Lachowitzer, formerly the Vicar General of Archbishop John Nienstedt, taking over as ‘canonical administrator’. Father McDonough, who has been heavily implicated in the sexual abuse scandal rocking the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, remains as pastor of St. Peter Claver parish and, presumably, Incarnation/Sagrado Corazon in Minneapolis.
If this news has you scratching your head, you are not alone. Since Father McDonough remains pastor (and therefore is the legal representative and decision maker for both the parish and school), Father Lachowitzer’s position as ‘canonical administrator’ is at best the result of a gentleman’s agreement and at worst a legal fiction. Moreover, while Lachowitzer certainly has experience with school administration, that experience is hardly without blemish. His last stint overseeing a Catholic school was at Faithful Shepherd in Eagan, where he supervised a mixed gender K-8 program along with the now-restricted Father Joseph Gallatin.
Still, you can’t fault the Archdiocese for taking steps to ensure that St. Peter Claver School is no longer subject to the creative administrative practices of Father McDonough. I have alluded in earlier posts to some of the more….interesting…means that the school has used to remain afloat, and the newsletter hints at others. And, there is certain irony to the fact that an administrator has been imposed upon Father McDonough, as that particular technique for dealing with a difficult situation was created by him as a means to deal with problem priests who he nonetheless felt should be permitted to serve in parishes (e.g. Father John Bussmann at the parishes that became Mary, Queen of Peace).
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