FT. WAYNE (IN)
Journal Gazette
Sept. 11, 2019
By Rosa Salter Rodriguez
A deceased former religious sister has been added to the list of those who have worked in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend and been found to have a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.
The allegation regarding the late Sister Susan Whitten is reported in a statement from the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ in Wednesday’s issue of Today’s Catholic, the diocese’s weekly newspaper.
Whitten was a teacher at Bishop Dwenger High School in Fort Wayne in her last assignment before being dispensed from her vows in 1967, the statement said.
The person making the allegation was a member of the class of 1967 and accused Whitten “of engaging in an inappropriate relationship,” according to the statement. “Out of respect for the privacy of the individual who made this credible allegation, the Poor Handmaids will not say anything further regarding the allegation or the response to it.”
The statement also said the order is “saddened to hear of this abuse” and adds the safety and well-being of children “is of the highest importance to us.”
Julie Dowd, the order’s communications director, told The Journal Gazette on Wednesday she did not know when Whitten joined the order or left it.
But Dowd said Whitten’s leaving was “just her choice” and not the result of official discipline.
Dowd also said she would not disclose the gender or any information about the person making the allegation.
An online history of the Poor Handmaids lists Whitten as one of four of the order’s sisters assigned to Dwenger as teachers when it first opened in 1963. A Poor Handmaids sister also was assigned as assistant principal.
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