For the first time ever, a United States Catholic Archdiocese has been criminally charged for “failing to protect children.” This came after prosecutors charged the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis over its handling of clergy abuse claims.
In the charges, prosecutors outlined how church leaders in the twin cities failed to protect children from unspeakable harm and continuing to ignore repeated reports of inappropriate behavior by priests.
The prosecutors also singled out the case of Curtis Wehmeyer, who while a pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in St. Paul, sexually abused two boys in 2010 — at times luring them with alcohol and pornography. Wehmeyer, is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for molesting two boys in St. Paul and is facing prosecution involving a third boy in Wisconsin.
The New York Times reported that the prosecutors have accused church leaders of failing to respond to “numerous and repeated reports of troubling conduct” by Wehmeyer from the time he entered seminary until he was removed from the priesthood in 2015. The criminal complaint says many people — including parishioners, fellow priests and parish staff — reported issues with Wehmeyer, and many of those claims were discounted.
What I find extraordinary about these charges is that rather than accusing specific individuals it levels charges against the archdiocese corporation as a whole. For two long the Catholic Church has used the “bad apple” defense in defending its role sexual abuse plague that has rocked the church. It has allowed the church as an institution to continue to operate without taking responsibility for their role by saying that guilt lay only with individual priests. This in spite of in every major abuse scandal the church has faced, Boston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and even right here in our own Tampa Bay, evidence of a church cover-up was revealed. Recently Bishop Flynn of Kansas City was criminally charged for his role in a sexual abuse scandal because even after being made aware of predator priests he shielded them through transfers. Flynn should have been de-frocked, yet he continues to serve. In Australia the Royal Commission found that Cardinal George Pell long ignored abuse complaints about priests and even went so far as to try and bribe victims of abuse. Under Pope Francis the church has vowed to fight abuse, yet they refuse to release records of predator priests, some of who remain serving in the church.
The Catholic Church has demonstrated time and time again that they are more concerned with preserving the “Brand,” than protecting the victims of abuse. The charges against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are the first shot across the bow, and they send a message to the Vatican, that at least in the United States, it is no longer business as usual.