Over the weekend, Catholic hymn composer, performer, and youth conference organizer David Haas was dropped by his publisher after the company learned the musician was under investigation by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for sexual battery and other offenses. Haas also ran a music camp for teens called Music Ministry Alive, which according…Continue reading EXCLUSIVE: Catholic composer accused of sexual battery worked with known predator for years
In my talks to groups, I always try to impress on people how child sexual abuse destroys communities. When a predator undermines family and community bonds to target a child, the ripples of sexual abuse damage radiate farther than the child victim. It happened in my case—affecting (and destroying) my family, my peers, and the…Continue reading “Can’t you just let it go?”
In 2013, Minnesota passed a landmark bill that allowed victims of child sexual abuse to use the civil courts to expose their abuser, no matter when the abuse took place. We are hoping to get one passed in New York right now. Ensuing lawsuits showed that the Archdiocese under Archbishop John Nienstedt (pictured above) and…Continue reading Fifteen Years After Dallas, Part Five: Naughty Nienstedt and the Vatican Shred
The answer is simple: they thought no one would notice. When Indian priest Rev. Joseph Jeyapaul pleaded guilty in 2012 to child molestation in the Diocese of Crookston, MN, Jeyapaul’s victims and their supporters (including SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) believed—at first—that they had won a huge victory. Not only had Jeyapaul fled the…Continue reading Why did the Vatican reinstate a convicted priest?
There are two very amazing and interesting aspects of today’s news about disgraced Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt. After national media attention and huge (and righteous) push back from Michigan Catholics, Nienstedt has been forced to leave a temporary position in a Michigan parish. If you’re just catching up to the story, Kalamazoo Catholic officials didn’t…Continue reading Catholics who stopped “sitting back and taking it”
