MINNESOTA
Winona Daily News
By Jerome Christenson
A Ramsey County district court judge has reaffirmed his order that the Diocese of Winona and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis disclose lists of all priests accused — not just those “credibly accused” — of child sexual abuse since 2004.
Judge John Van de North directed that the lists be provided to the court and plaintiffs’ attorneys by Feb. 18. The lists will be sealed from public scrutiny pending the determination by neutral parties if reasons exist why the accusations should or should not be made public.
The judge made his initial order in early January, after the release in December of lists of priests the church considered to be “credibly accused” of abuse. The judge’s order extended the disclosure to all priests who had been accused since 2004 — whether the church considered the accusation “credible” or not, the word used by a nationwide study on child sexual abuse within the Catholic church.
“To date the labeling of accusation as incredible, frivolous or groundless has been done by the defendants, and not by a disinterested party,” Van de North ruled. “It has been done in the context of canonical tenets and ecclesiastical processes whose relevance is a matter of significant debate.”
In other words — it’s time for a court to decide the validity of an accusation, not a diocese, Van de North ruled.
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