Society of the Divine Word – SVD

Return to main database page. See abbreviations and posting policy. Send corrections.

Terry McKiernan February 27, 2021

37 Accused in This Religious Order

Br. Deogratias Aguilar

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Status: Indicted

Diocese: Diocese of Trenton NJ

Named publicly as accused by the Society of the Divine Word, Chicago Province on its list in 5/2021. Worked in IL, Mexico, NJ, NY, PA. Professed vows in 1969. Died in 2008. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report. It notes an allegation by one person, occurring in the 1970s in Bordentown, NJ.

Assignments:

Sources:

Fr. Louis Altendorf

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1935
Status: Accused

Died: 06/16/1989
Diocese: Archdiocese of Chicago IL

Named publicly as credibly accused by the Order's Chicago Province. Included in 5/2023 on the Chicago Archdiocese's list. Assigned in China, MO, IL NY, DC. Abuse occurred in St. Louis MO in the 1940s-1950s, WI 1962-1964 and Chicago IL in the mid-1960s. Died in 1989. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report, with at least two "reported survivors".

Sources:

Fr. Kenneth J. Anich

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1973
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Milwaukee WI

Named publicly as credibly accused of the sexual abuse of a minor(s) by the Society of the Divine Word's Chicago Province. Abuse occurred in WI in 1980. Per its website in 6/2023, Anich is prohibited from public ministry, presenting himself as a priest and to contact with minors. Living since 2021 in Techny IL, where the Province is headquartered.

Assignments:

Society of the Divine Word Chicago Province Assignments

Sources:

Fr. Michael John Carew

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1946
Status: Accused

Died: 08/6/2015
Diocese: Archdiocese of Boston MA

Worked in the Archdiocese of Accra, Ghana, from the late 1957 until his transfer to Boston in 1957. Incardinated into Boston in 1964. Voluntarily laicized in 1971. Went on to marry and raise a family. Accused in 2002 of sexually abusing two girls in the early 1960s. There may also be a third female victim. Carew was assigned to Immaculate Conception in Newburyport 4/60-2/63. Per the Boston archdiocesan list on 8/25/11, he was publicly accused after his laicization on other grounds. Carew died in 2015.

Assignments:

Sources:

Fr. Richard Daschbach

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1964
Status: Convicted

Diocese: Archdiocese of Chicago IL

Ordained for the SVD's Chicago Province. Pittsburgh PA native. At Catholic U. in Washington DC and hospital chaplain at Fort Belvoir VA 1964-1966. Went to Timor, Indonesia in 1966 where he spent the next five-plus decades. Accused in early 2018 of sexually abusing at least two dozen girls at Topu Honis Shelter Home, which he founded in 1993. Child pornography also involved. Admitted the allegations to police. Laicized 11/06/2018. Refused to leave the orphanage and still saying mass, per SVD Superior General in 2/19. Arrested 4/26/2019. Released on house arrest. Trial started in 3/2021, postponed to 5/2021 due to covid-19, then to 6/7/2021. Reportedly threatened the life of the human rights lawyer representing the victims in 7/2021, at the district court. Indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington D.C. 8/26/2021, charged with 7 counts of illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place. Found guilty in 12/2021 and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Sources:

Fr. Lawrence Dudink

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1939
Status: Guilty plea

Died: 10/20/1984
Diocese: Diocese of Superior WI

Pleaded guilty in 1960 to abduction of a 17-year-old girl. Sentenced to three years in prison. Was chaplain at a Superior WI hospital when he took the girl on a car ride and didn't return. She had been admitted to the hospital that morning for a "nervous condition." Dudink was a family friend and had permission to take her for a ride. The two were found at a Phoenix AZ hotel. Went on to marry. Died in Oklahoma in 1984. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report.

Sources:

Fr. Clifton Raymond Etienne

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1979
Status: Sued

Died: 05/22/1998
Diocese: Diocese of San Bernardino CA

Accused in a civil suit of abuse at Divine Word Seminary in Riverside when he was a religious brother, prior to ordination. Assigned as a priest to St. Patrick's parish in the Oakland diocese 1979-80, St. Anthony's in San Bernardino 1981-88, then back to Divine Word Seminary 1988-98. Died in 5/98. Personnel file released10/25/10. On San Diego diocese's 9/18 list.

Assignments:

Diocese of San Diego list 09.14.18

Sources:

Fr. Joseph Fertal

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1959
Status: Settled

Diocese: Diocese of San Bernardino CA

Working in the Philippines in 1989 when suspected of abuse. Returned to his order's seminary in Riverside, CA, then assigned to parishes. Accused in 1995 of molesting a 16-year-old boy from a catechism class. Civil suit filed in 1996; later settled out of court. Criminal investigation dropped for lack of evidence. Forced by church officials to leave a CA retirement home in 2002 after it learned of his past history. In treatment several times. Added to Scranton diocese's list in 12/2018. Living in Chicago at the time. Reportedly died in 2021. Included on the Society of the Divine Word list of credibly accused. Noted to have been assigned in the Philippines 1960-1967, Techny IL 1967-1972, Philippines 1972-1989, California 1990-2004, Dittmer MO 2004-2016, Techny IL 2016-2021. Abuse occurred in Techny IL in 1968, Niles IL 1971, Scranton PA 1972 and Corona CA 1995. On the Archdiocese of Chicago's list as of 4/5/2023. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report, which notes at least two "reported survivors."

Sources:

Fr. Dominic T. Gaioni

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1967
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Los Angeles CA

Accused of abuse of a minor in 1977, per LA Archdiocese report in 2004. Included on San Bernardino diocese's list 10/9/18, where he worked 1986-92 at St. Catherine of Siena in Rialto.

Assignments:

LA Times Database 04.20.06

Sources:

LA Archdiocesan Report 02.17.04
Diocese of San Bernardino list 10.09.18

Br. Rene (Bernard) Gawlik

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Milwaukee WI

Professed vows in 1959. Worked in IL, OH, WI. Died in 2019. Named publicly as credibly accused by the Order on its list 4/18/21. Abuse occurred in the 1960s-1970s in East Troy, WI. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report, which notes at least one "reported survivor."

Sources:

Fr. Joseph Israel Guidry

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1957
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Jackson MS

Worked in MS, LA, IL. Named publicly as accused by the Jackson diocese on its list 3/19/2019. Report to the diocese in 2004 of alleged abuse in 1980 in Greenville. Removed from ministry. Died in 2019. Added to Baton Rouge's list in 7/2019, due to allegations elsewhere. Assigned at some point to St. John the Apostle in Baton Rouge. Included on the Order's Chicago Province list 4/18/2021. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report.

Sources:

Fr. Kenneth Hamilton

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1982
Status: Settled

Diocese: Archdiocese of New Orleans LA

The archdiocese announced a settlement in 12/18 of a lawsuit filed in 2015 which claimed Hamilton and Deacon Lloyd Glapion sexually abused a boy at St. Augustine's in Treme in the 1980s. Both men denied wrongdoing. Listed in 1/19 as on staff at St. Columba's in Oakland CA.

Sources:

New Orleans Advocate 12.20.18

Br. Rogers (Charles) Hannan

Order: SVD
Status: Convicted

Diocese: Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston WV

Professed vows for the Divine Word Missionaries in 1982. Worked in IL, NJ, IA, WV. Named publicly as accused on the Wheeling-Charleston dioceses' list in late 2018. Allegation reported to the Order 8/23/2012 of solicitation of a minor via computer in 2012. WV Department of Health and Human Resources notified 8/24/2012. Withdrew from the Order in 10/2012. Case sent to prosecutor's office in 2014. Convicted, sentenced to 2-10 years in jail in McDowell County, WV. Name included on the Order's list 4/18/2021. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report, where he worked 1983-1986 and 2000-2001.

Sources:

Br. Peter Alfonse Horne

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Chicago IL

Br. Alfonse. Professed vows in 1947. Died in 1991. Worked in MS, CA, IA, WI, DC, NY, GA, IL. Named publicly as accused by the Order on its list in 4/2021. Noted to have abused in CA in 1958, WI in 1960, DC 1968-1970. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report, which notes at least three "reported survivors." (Placing him in the Chicago Archdiocese, where the Province is based.)

Assignments:

Divine Word Missionaries Assignment Record

Sources:

Fr. Melvin P. James

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1975
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Los Angeles CA

Named publicly as accused on the Los Angeles archdiocese's updated list 12/6/18. Allegations reported in 2015 of abuse in the 1990s.

Sources:

Archdiocese of Los Angeles Update 12.06.18

Fr. Arthur E. Kelly

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1971
Status: Accused

Died: 12/12/2004
Diocese: Archdiocese of Washington DC and MD

Named as credibly accused by the Society of the Divine Word Chicago Province on its list 4/18/2021. Abuse noted to have occurred in 1971 in Washington DC. Assigned in the Order's Southern Province in 1968, Techny IL 1969, WDC 1969-1972, Chicago 1973-1974, Indianapolis IN 1975-1978, and again Chicago 1979-1986. Dismissed from the Order in 1987. Founded a youth center for teenage gang members in Indianapolis in 1974. Continued to work there as a priest after his dismissal, "without any church affiliation," per a 1992 news article. Died in 2004. Included on the Chicago Archdiocese's list 5/4/2023. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report.

Sources:

Fr. Conrad Kinder

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1921
Status: Accused

Died: 01/2/1978
Diocese: Diocese of Austin TX

Named publicly as accused by the Austin diocese on its list 1/31/19. Died in 1978. Included in 2020 on the Diocese of Little Rock's list, where he was assigned to St. Bartholomew 1929-46.

Assignments:

Diocese of Austin Assignments

Sources:

Fr. Ronald Lange

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1971
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Chicago IL

Named publicly as credibly accused by the Chicago Province of the Society of the Divine Word on its list in 4/2021. Abuse occurred in Ghana, Africa over "multiple years" and in Iowa in 1987. Worked in Ghana 1968-1991 and 1996-2013, in the U.S. 1991-1996. Living in Dittmer MO from 2013 at least through 4/2021. Per his order, Lange is monitored and is prohibited from public ministry and contact with minors.

Assignments:

Society of the Divine Word List April 2021

Sources:

Fr. Pius Lawe

Order: SVD
Ordained: 2005
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston TX

Named publicly as accused by the Galveston-Houston archdiocese on its list 1/31/19. Removed from ministry in 2009.

Sources:

Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston List 01.31.19

Fr. Patrick Lee

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1967
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Jackson MS

Named publicly as accused by the Jackson diocese on its list 3/19/19. Alleged abuse in 1988 in Vicksburg reported same year to the diocese. Removed from ministry 1988.

Sources:

Diocese of Jackson List 03.19.19

Fr. Nilo C. Martins

Order: SVD
Status: Convicted

Diocese: Archdiocese of Philadelphia PA

Brazilian pediatrician and order priest. Convicted 1985 of abuse of boy, age 12. Sent for treatment before conviction. Served only about 5 weeks of 23-46 month sentence. Immediately deported/returned to Brazil. Remained active priest there for for many years.

Sources:

Fr. Andrew (Dorfmeister) Masters

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1934
Status: Accused

Died: 03/19/2008
Diocese: Archdiocese of New Orleans LA

First named publicly as accused on the New Orleans archdiocese's list 11/2/2018. Allegation received in 1993. Died in 2008, at age 98. Included on the Society of the Divine Word Chicago Province list of credibly accused, as Rev. Andrew (Dorfmeister) Masters. Included on the Archdiocese of Chicago's list 5/4/2023. Abuse occurred in Chicago in the 1950s and in Louisiana in the 1970s. Assigned in WI, IL, Rome, England, South Africa, Ireland and the Southern U.S. Province. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report.

Sources:

Br. Henry Miller

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Status: Accused

Died: 04/27/2017
Diocese: Archdiocese of Chicago IL

Entered the the Divine Word Missionaries in 1939. Worked in the Southern Province 1939-1947, in Ghana Africa 1948-1985, Kenya 1986-1989, St. John's Antigua 1990-2001, Washington DC 2002-2004, Bordentown NJ 2005-2011. Resided in Techny IL 2012 until his death in 2017. Named publicly as credibly accused by Order's Chicago Province on its list 4/19/2021. Abuse occurred in Ghana in the 1960-1970s.

Sources:

Br. William Morgan

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Baltimore MD

Named publicly as accused in the 4/5/2023 MD Attorney General's Report. Worked in New Guinea 1950-1991. Report in 1986 to the Baltimore Archdiocese from the grandparents of a 4-year-old girl that Morgan sexually abused the girl during a recent visit while on vacation from New Guinea. The family said that ten years earlier Morgan sexually abused another girl in the family and a neighbor's daughter. Order informed. Msgr. G. Michael Schleupner met with Morgan, who said "things are different" in New Guinea and "people are more accepting of adults showing affection to children," describing nudity with children there with fondling and touching. Sent to House of Affirmation in MA for assessment. Spiritual direction recommended, not residential treatment. Allowed continue mission work in New Guinea. Died in 2008 in WI, where he had been since 1998. Included on the Order's Chicago Province list of credibly accused.

Sources:

Br. Edmundus Murphy

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Erie PA

First named publicly as accused in the PA Grand Jury Report 8/14/18. Allegation to diocese in 12/07 from Murphy's order that in 1964 Murphy sexually abused a male student at Sacred Heart High School in Girard. Murphy was the school's wrestling coach. His accuser said Murphy had him wrestle naked like the ancient Greeks and Romans, then sodomized him. Murphy died in 10/14.

Assignments:

PA Grand Jury Report Profile 08.14.18

Sources:

Fr. Jacques (Nijssen) Nyssen

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1959
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Chicago IL

Named publicly as credibly accused by the Divine Word Missionaries' Chicago Province on its list 4/18/2021. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report, which notes at least two "reported survivors," of abuse in Ghana in the 1960s and in 1980s in the Caribbean. Worked also in the Netherlands, Washington DC, St. Kitts, FL, IL NJ. Died in 2015.

Sources:

Seminarian Kevin Phan

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Status: Convicted

Diocese: Archdiocese of Chicago IL

Native of Vietnam. Student at the Society of the Divine Word, a Catholic missionary organization. Charged with having 300 images of child pornography on his computer and posting 30 of them on the Internet. Expelled from the Seminary after charges filed. Pled guilty 12/04 to 1 count; balance of charges dropped.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Chicago Tribune 03.13.04
Chicago Sun-Times 03.14.04
Northbrook Star 12.23.04
Phan v Leis, C-050842, Court of Appeals Ohio 11.09.06

Fr. Jefferson Pool

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1992
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Milwaukee WI

Named publicly as credibly accused of the sexual abuse of minors in 5/2021 by the Society of the Divine Word's Chicago Province. Abuse occurred in OH in 1977 and in WI in 1981. Per its website in 6/2023, Pool is prohibited from public ministry, presenting himself as a priest and to contact with minors. Living since 2021 in East Troy, WI.

Assignments:

Society of the Divine Word Chicago Province Assignments

Sources:

Fr. Ponciano M. Ramos

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1985
Status: Guilty plea

Died: 06/29/2021
Diocese: Archdiocese of Indianapolis IN

From the Philippines. Pleaded guilty in 1993 to three misdemeanors for strip-searching young boys in Indianapolis after they set off stink bombs in the parish school. Sentenced to an 18-month suspended sentence and 15 months' probation. Was moved to Chicago and then to the Diocese of San Bernardino, CA. Placed on leave in 4/2002. Allowed to return to restricted duty with the Order in 2003. Included on the San Bernardino diocese's list in 10/2018; noted to be permanently banned from ministry in the diocese. Died in 2021. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report.

Sources:

Fr. Claire J. Risse

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1947
Status: Accused

Died: 12/14/1998
Diocese: Archdiocese of Chicago IL

Worked in IL, New Guinea, OH, PA. Died in 1998. Named publicly as credibly accused by the Divine Word Missionaries Chicago Province on its list 4/18/2021, which notes abuse occurred in the 1950s in Papua New Guinea. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report.

Sources:

Fr. Paul Shurek

Order: SVD
Status: Sued

Died: 02/2/1963
Diocese: Diocese of Saint Cloud MN

From Poland. Ordained for the Society of the Divine Word in 1920. Arrived shortly after ordination to the U.S. Assigned to the Divine Word Seminary in Techny IL, and in 1926 to St. Augustine's Seminary in Bay St. Louis LA, followed by parish work in St. Louis MO and Chicago IL. Worked beginning in 1930 in the Diocese of St. Cloud at parishes in Pierz, St. Anna, Morril, Harding and Elmdale. Died in 1963. Shurek was named publicly as accused by the diocese on its list in 2/21. Noted to be the subject of a lawsuit(s), the credibility of the allegations not determined.

Sources:

Fr. Lukas Bao Teluma

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1975
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Los Angeles CA

Accused of abuse of a minor in 1995, per 2004 archdiocesan report. Remained an active priest in 2004.

Assignments:

LA Times Database 04.20.06

Sources:

LA Archdiocesan Report 02.17.04

Fr. Vance Zebulon Thorne

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1954
Status: Sued

Diocese: Archdiocese of Los Angeles CA

Accused of abuse of one person in early 1970s per LA archdiocesan report in 2004. Also worked in dioceses of Austin TX (1961-1971), Jackson MS (1980-1987), and Trenton NJ. At least 3 civil suits and 2 criminal indictments filed 1986-87 in MS. One plaintiff claimed abuse by Thorne 1980-86 beginning when he was age 14 in at Holy Ghost church in the Jackson diocese. Another alleged abuse at the same parish as a 9-year-old boy. Thorne died 11/04. On Jackson diocese's list 3/19/19. It notes alleged abuse in 1986 reported same year, removed from diocese 1987.

Assignments:

LA Times Database 04.20.06

Sources:

Br. Camillus (Michael) Turkalj

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Milwaukee WI

Worked in IL, MA, WI, IA, MI, OH, CA, PA. Professed vows in 1934. Died in 1987. Named publicly as credibly accused by the Order on its list in 2021. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report, which notes at least two "reported survivors," of abuse in 1955 in East Troy WI and 1959-1962 in Riverside CA.

Sources:

Fr. John H. Wadeson

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1969
Status: Reinstated

Diocese: Archdiocese of Los Angeles CA

Accused of abuse of two 1973-77, per 2004 L.A. archdiocesan report. Also worked in New York and/or Brooklyn, Trenton NJ and Portland OR dioceses. Banned from working in L.A. archdiocese; in 2014 was found working as priest in Guam, apparently since at least 2000. Idenitified himself as an "Australian priest of the Archdiocese of Agana in Guam, Micronesia." Guam Archdiocese Directory indicated he was incardinated there but assigned to Neocatechumenal Center in San Francisco, CA. Removed from active ministry 07/22/14; archdiocese admitted it knew of past allegations in 2000 when he was incardinated. As of 7/23/14, left Guam, possibly to San Francisco. Denied all allegations. SF archdiocese withdrew privileges as of 07/21/14. Reinstatement to Agana archdiocese announced 4/15/15 after L.A. archdiocese reviewed case and said, since there appeared to have been no settlement and Wadeson was not convicted, Wadeson was "a priest in good standing."

Assignments:

LA Times Database 04.20.06

Sources:

Fr. Vincent Casimer Waiches

Donate Photo

Order: SVD
Ordained: 1946
Status: Accused

Died: 06/18/1995
Diocese: Diocese of Austin TX

Named publicly as accused by the Austin Diocese on its list 1/31/2019. Died 1995. It notes Waiches was previously a Divine Word priest, later a San Diego diocesan priest. On the Jackson Diocese's list 3/19/2019. No information as to when accused or where or when alleged abuse occurred. Included on the IL Attorney General's List 5/3/2023.

Assignments:

Diocese of Austin Assignments

Sources:

Br. Jeremiah Walsh

Order: SVD
Status: Accused

Died: 07/19/2000
Diocese: Archdiocese of Chicago IL

Professed vows in 1967. Assigned in Techny IL 1967-1988, CA 1989-1999. Died in IL in 2000. Named publicly as credibly accused by the Order on its lis tin 5/2021. Abuse noted to have occurred in Chicago in 1977. Allegation received after Walsh's death. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General's Report.

Sources: