MINNESOTA
The Catholic Spirit
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced Sept. 20 that it received an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor and reported it to law enforcement.
The alleged sexual abuse involves Father Joseph Thomas Forcelle and is from the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was serving as a priest at St. Mark in St. Paul. Father Forcelle has been serving in the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, since 1984. The archdiocese said it notified the Sioux Falls diocese.
Father Forcelle, 63, was ordained for the archdiocese in 1980. In addition to St. Mark, he served at St. Olaf in Minneapolis. In 1984 he became the director of the Office of Youth Ministry for the Diocese of Sioux Falls and was incardinated into that diocese in 1988.
According to a press release from the archdiocese, the St. Paul Police Department on Sept. 19 advised that there would not be a criminal investigation and gave the archdiocese permission to make the disclosure.
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