MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Monday, Oct. 3, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
A Minnesota priest who was first accused of molesting kids has finally, decades later, been defrocked by Vatican officials. He began abusing youngsters within months of being ordained, continues to deny any wrongdoing and continues to live in the Twin Cities.
[Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis]
Instead of being honest about what Fr. Joseph L. Wajda did, Twin Cities Archbishop Bernard Hebda said did what Catholic officials have done for decades. He minimized child sexual abuse and kept Catholics and citizens in the dark using deliberately vague language.
We hope the defrocking of Fr. Wajda will bring some comfort to his victims. But Hebda’s duty doesn’t end here.
Kids are safest when child molesters are jailed. So Hebda must go to every parish where Fr. Wajda worked and beg victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call police. He must spread the same message through clear and repeated notices in parish bulletins, on church websites and in pulpit announcements, prodding those with information or suspcions to call law enforcement. That’s what a truly caring shepherd would do.
Catholic bishops can’t recruit, educate, ordain, transfer and shield predator priests and then suddenly walk away – saying “He’s not our guy anymore” – and let parents, police, prosecutors and the public fend for themselves. Hebda and his staff, knowing what Fr. Wajda has done, have a duty to help prod others who could put this predator behind bars behind bars.
And Hebda should turn over every shred of information he has about Fr. Wajda to police. He should insist that every other Minnesota cleric should do the same, whether they have actual knowledge or just suspicions about this predator.
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