MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: February 17, 2014
The list includes the former head of a Catholic Youth Center. Victim’s advocates ask, Why the wait?
The names of nine more priests accused of sexually abusing minors were made public Monday by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, prompting victims’ advocates to ask why the names weren’t on the list released in December.
Most of the priests named were already known abusers, and some for decades, said Patrick Wall, victims advocate at Anderson Advocates law firm. The law firm had already sued many of them in Minnesota or other states, he said.
The now-former priests include Michael Kolar, the nearly 20-year assistant director of the Catholic Youth Center in St. Paul; Gerald Funcheon, a former Anoka priest who has admitted to abusing nearly 50 boys; and Kenneth LaVan, who served in nine parishes before retiring in 1998.
In a statement announcing the names, the archdiocese said the release is part of its ongoing commitment to addressing clergy misconduct.
“We are making these disclosures as part of the ongoing review of clergy personnel files conducted by Kinsale Management Consulting,” said the statement. More names may be forthcoming.
But victims’ attorneys charge that the disclosures were made because of court pressure.
“This is just another example of how important it is for there to be court oversight in the archdiocese’ release of information about child sex offenders,” said Mike Finnegan, an attorney with Anderson Advocates. “This is all information they’ve had, and have kept secret. It wasn’t until their attempt to keep this secret was denied that they released these names.”
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