October 11, 2005

Dear Mayor Swoboda;

We are writing to you today because of our concern that a tragic pattern is about to repeat itself.

In an article published October 7, 2005 issue of the St. Louis Review, the archdiocese announces that it is working with St. Agnes Home in Kirkwood to add almost a dozen rooms for retired priests. While on the surface this seems very innocuous, we find it worrisome. The archdiocese already has a retirement home for priests, Regina Cleri, on the Kenrick Seminary property. They say that these new rooms are necessary because Regina Cleri is full. In a Post Dispatch article ( March 20, 2005) by Tim Townsend, Archbishop Burke admits there are "eight or nine" proven, admitted or credibly accused abusive clerics at Regina Cleri. Burke did not volunteer this information. He admitted it only after it had already been made public.

In the Saint Louis area we have numerous church-run facilities housing clergy sexual predators; Vianney Renewal Center in Jefferson County, Recon in Franklin County and St. Michael's in Shrewsbury. None of them are secure centers, none of them effectively monitor the coming and going of the molesters that are housed there, and 'treatment' is questionable and sporadic at best. These facilities accept predators from across the country, many serving court order probation. Recently one predator, under court ordered probation, was arrested by the FBI for receiving child pornography at one of these centers. Another simply walked away and now lives in University City near a grade school and three child care facilities. When confronted with these dangerous situations, church officials claim they have no control over these priests or their movements.

We learn of the locations of these priests, who have been removed for harming children, only because concerned Catholics are outraged that children are put at risk again and again, and they contact us. Recently, the family of a molesting priest called to tell us that he was living at Mother of Good Counsel nursing home. No notice was given to visitors to watch their children while “visiting grandma.” We have since discovered he is not the only predator to have been housed there.

Regina Cleri is within easy walking distance of two child care facilities; it backs up to a neighborhood and a park. Archbishop Burke admits that nearby residents were not warned about their abusive “neighbors.” Sister Geraldine Vogel, who supervises the facility, admits she does not monitor the priests in question; “they are free to go to a movie or for a walk. I would trust them all.” It would be foolish to believe anything would be different if St. Agnes built a facility for priests.

Please put the safety of the children first! Archdiocesan officials are very good at making promises about openness and transparency when dealing with the child sex abuse crisis. Unfortunately, these promises often prove to be empty. St. Agnes is a well respected facility, families with young children come to visit friends and relatives and assume they are in a safe location. St. Agnes runs a day care facility and parents trust that the safety of their children comes first. Kirkwood residents assume that child molesters are registered and monitored so their children will be safe. Our fear is that if this facility is built none of these assumptions will be true.

So we urge you to consider using every means possible (zoning regulations, building code restrictions, moral persuasion, etc.) to prod the Archdiocese to:

• prod victims and witnesses to come forward, so more of these dangerous men can be put behind bars,
• keep these dangerous men out of Kirkwood, and instead
• house them at remote, secure, independently-run facilities, only after notifying and warning nearby residents.

We look forward to your response.

David Clohessy
National Director of SNAP

Barbara Dorris
Victims Outreach Coordinator
6245 Westminster Place
Saint Louis, MO 63130