MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )
Six years after America’s bishops pledged “zero tolerance” of child sexual abuse, the former chancellor of the St. Paul Archdiocese says she found about 20 clergy in ministry who were guilty of sexual misconduct with adults and children.
Six years after America’s bishops pledged mandatory background checks on all church personnel, that same former chancellor found that most Twin Cities priests hadn’t had background checks since the early 1990s.
Meanwhile, top Catholic officials in St. Paul expanded the archdiocesan public relations staff from one to more than 20, according to the Pioneer Press.
And that former chancellor, Jennifer Haselberger, said she endured “months of harassment, threats, and intimidation” before resigning last year.
In a shocking, lengthy new affidavit filed today, Haselberger said that as recently as last year, Archbishop John Nienstedt lied to the public, claiming “that no abusing priests were in ministry,” something that simply wasn’t true, Haselberger said, citing the case of the Rev. Joseph Gallatin, then pastor at the Church of St. Peter in Mendota Heights.
Even before the St. Peter assignment, Gallatin’s personnel file indicated “the sexual nature of his contact with a boy in West Virginia and his admitted sexual attraction to boys as young as twelve…” Haselberger wrote.
Fr. Gallatin was finally put on leave last December
Remember, Haselberger is a devout Catholic and a canon lawyer who has been hired by at least three bishops.
Her integrity and motives are unquestioned. If she is to be faulted in any way, we suspect it would be for erring on the side of understatement.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.