The St. Paul law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates today released documents from the priest files of 24 men in the interest of public disclosure and transparency, according to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
In a Nov. 5 statement posted at archspm.org, Bishop Andrew Cozzens said the archdiocese gave these files to the court earlier this year and that all the men are the subject of substantiated claims of sexual abuse of a minor either in the archdiocese, where most of them served, or in another diocese.
“All of these men have previously had their names disclosed for substantiated claims of abuse by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and all have been permanently removed from ministry in this archdiocese,” Bishop Cozzens said. “All but two have not been in ministry here for at least a decade. Fifteen are deceased.”
A claim is substantiated when there are reasonable grounds to believe that the reported abuse occurred.
Released documents were from the following men’s files:
- Edward Beutner
- John Brown
- Robert Clark
- Thomas Ericksen
- Ambrose Filbin
- Kenneth Gansmann
- Ralph Goniea
- Rudolph Henrich
- Reginald Krakovsky
- Harry Majerus
- William Marks
- James Nickel
- Paul Palmitessa
- Joseph Pinkosh
- Charles Potocki
- Robert Ruglovsky
- James P. Stark
- Michael Stevens
- Robert Thurner
- Roger Vaughn
- Clarence Vavra
- Raymond Walter
- Adalbert Wolski
- Francis Zachman
For general information about these men, including assignment history, visit SafeCatholicSPM.org.
In the statement, Bishop Cozzens reminded people to call law enforcement if they or someone they know have been sexually abused.
“Archbishop John Nienstedt, I and all other archdiocesan leaders are committed to doing everything we can to prevent abuse of the young and the vulnerable and to help abuse victims/survivors and their loved ones heal,” he said. “I apologize for the grave harm caused by clergy sexual abuse to victims/survivors, their families and their communities.”
