Crosier faulted in abuse reporting

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The Crosier Fathers and Brothers have failed to reveal all they know about the scope of sexual misconduct by members of the Roman Catholic order, the Star Tribune reported Sunday.

The newspaper said that lack of candor now threatens their credibility with some leaders of St. Odilia Church, a large Shoreview parish the Crosiers have served since the early 1960s.

Parish leaders are scheduled to meet with the Crosiers in a mediation session early next month to address concerns that developed after parishioners learned in May that a Crosier brother who admitted to committing sexual abuse in the 1980s at their prep school in Onamia was worshipping at the church.

The Star Tribune also reported that the sexual abuse in Onamia involved more than just teenage boys at the school and seminary. The Crosiers have previously acknowledged some of those incidents. But the newspaper said it learned that young altar boys who served at the Holy Cross Church next door allegedly were abused as well.

Although the Crosiers hired a law firm in June to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct and then named eight brothers and priests who are on restrictions, they didn't say how many cases they've settled. But they have told the newspaper that they have paid a total of around $800,000 to all victims of sexual misconduct.

They also haven't disclosed the whereabouts of brother Gregory Madigan, who the Crosiers say admitted to molesting teenage boys in the mid-1980s at the Onamia prep school.

The U.S. Crosiers, who have 89 members, moved Madigan to their Shoreview headquarters two years ago without telling neighbors or lay leaders next door at St. Odilia and its school. Earlier this year, after revealing he had been living in Shoreview, the order moved Madigan to a still-undisclosed location.

Even before the Madigan issue surfaced at St. Odilia, some parish leaders expressed concerns about not being involved in important decisions affecting the church, which serves 3,450 households and more than 11,000 people in the northern St. Paul suburbs.

What the Crosiers haven't disclosed troubles Rex Holzemer, a St. Odilia trustee and a leader on the church's pastoral council.

"If stuff keeps dribbling out, you've lost your opportunity to establish trust again," he said.

The Rev. Thomas Carkhuff, head of the U.S. Crosiers since 1999, acknowledged that "there are serious issues we need to work on together." He declined to elaborate before the mediation session, but expressed optimism about the outcome.

"I certainly hope and believe we will be able to come to understandings that strengthen what is already a strong relationship with the people of the parish and their leadership," he said.

Said Sharon Hicks, a trustee and parish leader: "I am still hopeful that we can work through the issues we have and come out stronger for it. I don't know if that's possible, but I certainly hope for it."

Carkhuff again apologized for the "deplorable behavior" by some members of the order and said he was "deeply sorry for these horrible acts."

But he said last month, when the Crosiers released a summary report of the law firm's findings, that he believed the order had confronted the abuse issue head on.

In that report, the Crosiers publicly identified eight members who had abused minors and announced a stronger policy against sexual misconduct. Six of the eight worked during the 1970s and 1980s at the Onamia prep school and seminary, which closed in 1989. The Crosiers didn't disclose the number of victims or the number of incidents.

Carkhuff said the Crosiers "will not discuss case-specific details because they contain information that was obtained with the understanding that it would be kept confidential, and includes material that the Crosiers are legally bound to keep confidential."

As an example, the Crosiers did not address in their report the number of incidents involving Madigan and did not mention any abuse at Holy Cross Church in Onamia.

But the Star Tribune reported Sunday that Madigan, 67, allegedly molested at least six altar boys he supervised at the church in the 1960s and 1970s. Some of the altar boys were as young as 9 or 10 when they allegedly were abused.

Four people told the Star Tribune they were molested by Madigan as altar boys; one couple also said their sons were abused by Madigan about the same time. In all but one case, the newspaper said, the victims or parents asked that their names not be used.

When asked about allegations that Madigan abused altar boys at Holy Cross, Carkhuff, who wasn't on staff in Onamia, said: "We know of the incidents of Madigan's abuse of minors that have been reported to us, and we have publicly stated that he has been named in credible claims of sexual abuse of minors. We can't say for certain that every instance of abuse has been reported, so we continue to encourage persons who have not come forward and reported abuse to do so."

Ray Praught, an altar boy in the late 1960s and early 1970s who now lives in Richmond, Va., told the Star Tribune Madigan that molested him twice. Each fondling lasted a few minutes, Praught said.

"I was such a young age, it's hard to know what to do and how to respond," he said. "They're walking around, with cassocks on, black and white, and with crosses on the walls and the pictures of the priests. And everything around you says, 'This is God's House.' You say: 'It must be something I did; it can't be something they did."'