June 30, 2008

Dear Bishop Hermann:

On your first full day in office as the new head of this archdiocese, you have an opportunity to show what your predecessors have only claimed: that nothing is more important than the safety of kids. We beg you to seize this opportunity.

For the second time in a week, an out-of-state cleric is now facing criminal child sex abuse charges in Wisconsin. Both of these potentially dangerous men live in your archdiocese now, as do dozens of other proven, admitted and credibly accused abusive clergymen. Most apparently live in church facilities, but at least two have worked in one city parish in recent years with little or no warning to church or community members. We suspect there have been other sexually troubled and/or abusive clerics who have or currently do work within the archdiocese.

(In fact, an admitted child predator, Fr. Vincent Bryce, now works at the Aquinas Institute and lives at Jesuit Hall, both either on the campus or directly across the street from St. Louis University.)

For the most part, these clerics have been quietly sent here with little or no notice given to parishioners or the public, despite repeated pledges by America’s bishops to be ‘open and honest’ about child sex abuse allegations and charges.

We beg you to end this disturbing pattern of secrecy and recklessness.

Our requests are simple. We urge you to

• stop importing (at least temporarily) potentially dangerous predator priests into St. Louis,
• disclose the location of any church facilities that house predator priests, and
• release the names and whereabouts of all sexually abusive priests who now live and/or work in the archdiocese.

Our rationale is also simple.

• If parents and the public know who and where these potentially dangerous men are, then they can better protect vulnerable children. (And if these clerics are so dangerous that their bishops won’t let them work in their own dioceses, aren’t they dangerous enough to warn the public about them?)
• Similarly, if parents and the public know where these potentially dangerous men are, then they can better protect vulnerable children.
• There has never been, to the best of our knowledge, any independent, thorough analysis of the various housing, treatment and/or retirement centers where these admitted, proven or credibly accused sex offender clergy are being sent. At least until such an evaluation is done, wouldn’t it be prudent to stop importing potentially dangerous men?

We aren’t talking about theoretical harm that might happen in the future. Such harm has already happened. At least three priests - Father Victor Frobas, Father Romano Ferraro and Father Ken Roberts - molested children in St. Louis after being sent here from their home dioceses for molesting. Lawsuits have been filed against the latter two.

We hope you will break from the irresponsible practices of the past and usher in a new era of openness and caution regarding child safety in the archdiocese. We hope to hear from you soon.

Barbara Dorris
Outreach Coordinator, SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
6245 Westminster
St. Louis MO 63130
314 862 7688

David Clohessy
National Director, SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
7234 Arsenal Street
Saint Louis, MO 63143
314 566 9790