Account of Victim's Meeting with Bishop O'Keefe
Regarding the Franciscan Brothers of Christ the King

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brom
Registered User
Posts: 1
(4/23/03 9:52 am)
Reply Re: Franciscan Brothers of Christ the King - Davenport, Iowa

Brothers:

I too have been affected by the horror of Francis Skube and my time with the brothers. I joined to serve God and the Church when I was 17. I was at the Pleasant Street address from February through November of 1977. I was abused by two brothers, one being Skube. I told Bishop O'Keefe personally of the abuse that was going on in a meeting at the very end of my time with them. At the meeting was Skube, Brother Daniel and a couple other brothers along with O'Keefe. Needless to say, "Brother" was using all his deceptive skills to make me then an 18 year old the scapegoat. As it turned out, the Bishop accepted me into the college seminary and even sent me to Rome where Father William Wiebler from a Bettendorf parish came over on a spring trip and tried to make some moves on me when the nun he was travelling with had gone to bed. Needless to say, my desire to serve the "church" was affected by these types of actions by those in authority. I left the seminary in 1981. While I thought about going back to study for the priesthood as late 1990, I could not get over the abuse and sexual advances by the brothers, seminarians and that "priest" from my time studying for Davenport. I met a wonderful person and my wife and I have been married for 12 years. I told my wife in the early 1990's of the horror. But I did not want to think about it so I stopped talking about it. It has been 26 years of living with that horror and only the courage of the Boston believers who spoke out that has moved the Bishops to act that has given me the courage to meet this head on. My fear is that Mahoney hired a PR firm and once Law resigned and the US bishops accepted the watered down abuse policy by the Vatican that TV networks moved on to other murders, scandals and wars for coverage. These people negatively affected my life for 26 years, now is a time to bring justice to those like me who suffered untold horrors and who have harbored that pain and trauma for years and years and years. The sadness is that St. Louis, Belleville, Davenport, Peoria and others have experienced the horror of these dark souls who perpetrated crime in the name of God and the Church. I am in the healing process now and wish all other brothers who have endured this long pain to talk this out with a professional and to contact me so we can make sure this horror is not afflicted on another human being in the name of the one we worshipped this past Sunday as our Risen Lord. I know He will ultimately judge Skube. I too know that Lucifer likes to separate us from Him. If you are a victim, please don't blame yourself. Please contact me ASAP.

Peace be with you,

Your Brother in Christ