Tag: St. John’s UNiversity

Church “lawyers” keep mum on speaker’s five abuse allegations

Patrick Marker from BehindthePineCurtain broke this blockbuster story:

The organization representing lawyers practicing Catholic Church “law” recently allowed a man with numerous allegations of sexual abuse to speak to its membership at its Chicago conference.

The Canon Law Society of America (CLSA), the organization charged with “promotion of the study and application of canon law in the Roman Catholic Church,” hosted speaker Fr. Daniel Ward, OSB, a Benedictine monk and priest with at least five allegations of sexual abuse. The group did this despite being warned in a letter that the Benedictines had launched an investigation and that Marker had collected statements from the victims.

Ward’s presentation: A Diocese, a Parish, a Religious Institute, a Member: An Exploration of Canon and Civil Law is telling—his “exploration of Canon and civil law” seems to be a study on how to hide assets when a diocese is rocked by a sex abuse and cover-up scandal.

How does he know so much? Well, not only has he represented predator monks himself, but he also counsels church groups on sexual misconduct and asset reallocation. And who would know better?

The CLSA owes a huge explanation to its membership, who they thought would never catch wind of the allegations. The Benedictines need to be held accountable as well—one of their priests is under investigation for numerous allegations of abuse, yet they have warned NO ONE and allow Ward to live freely in Silver Spring, MD (home of the infamous St. Luke’s Institute, a treatment center for child-molesting clerics).

October 15, 2012
Allegations at St. John’s University: Elder Abuse and Predatory Fundraising

St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN calls itself a “College of Distinction.” But in courtrooms in California and Minnesota, the Benedictine university also being called a predatory fundraiser and has been slapped with allegations of elder abuse.

Patrick Marker at Behind the Pine Curtain broke the story that:

Employees of the Order of Saint Benedict OSB (including St. John’s University and Saint John’s Abbey) engaged in “financial elder abuse” and “predatory fundraising”.

According to legal documents, Saint John’s is accused of:

1. Liability of Gratuitous Tranferee of Trust Property
2. Liability of Gratuitous Tranferee of Personal Property
3. Constructive Fraud
4. Participation in Breach of Trust
5. Breach of Fiduciary Duty
6. Financial Elder Abuse

The story is still developing, and I will report more as I learn it.

For those of you who don’t know about St. John’s: more than fifty members of the St. John’s community – including OSB monks, priests, visiting priests, seminarians and lay personnel – have been credibly accused of abuse since 1940. That’s a huge number of predators from a school as small as St. John’s, which only has approximately 2000 students. It’s smaller than the average high school.

It’s not a far stretch to see how a school whose officials covered-up for that many predators could also cover up alleged financial elder abuse.

(St. John’s is also the alma mater of my friend and colleague Patrick Wall, who has dedicated his post-priesthood career to helping the victims at St. John’s and other Catholic schools, churches and institutions.)

August 6, 2012

Tag: St. John’s UNiversity

Church “lawyers” keep mum on speaker’s five abuse allegations

Allegations at St. John’s University: Elder Abuse and Predatory Fundraising