Local priests may be into more than pedophilia....

The BBQ Pit
1

I am hesitant about posting this here. I’m not sure if this belongs in the Pit, but it seemed to be the best place. While I’m not religious [sub]ELCA born, bred, and recovering[/sub], neither am I anti-relgious, and this just seems the best place, given the subject.

Link, link,link.

Our local paper, the St. Cloud Lies…er…Times, also had a more in-depth story, but the online archives stink.

Upshot is that the father of the Reker girls was the guy in charge of St. John’s University’s publishing organization, and the girls were in and out of his office all the time. One of the abbotts at the uni is the main subject of inquiry.

In addition, the local cop shop is re-opening and re-directing its investigation into the Jacob Wetterling investigation.

I do not believe the Catholic church is inherently evil. I do, however, believe the church has its own institutional version of ‘The Thin Blue Line’, and that its aged, out-of-touch heirarchy needs to be collectively slapped upside the head with a 21st century clue x 4.

Ya know what’s sad? I can’t work up a lot of ire about this [sub]alleged but probable[/sub] cover up. I just assume that when any group, company, or organization gets to a certain size/prominence it’s going to do something that sours it all, be it abuse, graft, tax evasion, cheating, or SEC foul-ups.

I think what irks me most about the whole subject is Catholicism itself.

I mean that in the nicest way. I grew up in a community that is probably 80% Catholic and most of my childhood friends were Catholic. Hell, my Lutheran mother and Baptist grandmother BOTH had Catholic masses said for them when they were in hospital, so whatever differences there are between the religions here is mostly cosmetic.

But historically…when a group of people had a problem with the status quo, it broke off from the main group and formed its own religion. E.g., Martin Luther broke off from Rome. The Presbys, Baptists, Methodists, and Calvinists took their cue and broke off as well.

I just think it’s about freakin’ time (many) American Catholics took their fate into their own hands, broke off, and formed their own church - something that is modeled on life here and today. Something not so rooted in history and tradition that the leaders are capable of saying “Oh! Hey! Diddling little kids is WRONG! We have to get the police involved!”

2

There is an American Catholic Church.

It’s a small sect, taking most of the Roman Catholic theology and mixing it with a measure of inclusiveness. Non-celibate clergy, female clergy, no mixed messages on sexual orientation.

It suffers from general anonymity, though.

jayjay (waves to chiquey)

3

maybe i’m dense, but what does a kid abducted by a masked gunman in the 90s have to do with other kids molested by priests in the 70s?

4

I’m guessing that the train of thought goes like this: It involved a child, and somebody did a Bad Thing to the child, and it happened in Minnesota, and in Minnesota there were priests doing bad things to children. Therefore they think a priest (gasp!) might have done it. :rolleyes:

BTW, the Jacob Wetterling link has made my computer lock up twice now–not your fault, Chique, just a poorly designed web page, I think.

5

are the two cities close to eachother?

6

Well, yes. There’s a reason ‘may’ is in my thread title.

Except the priest involved is being RE-investigated. He’s been through this before.

Just
a few
more links.

Cessandra: St. Cloud and Collegeville are about 10 miles apart. St. Jospeph is halfway inbetween.

7

Ah, yes: innocent until proven guilty, unless already found innocent, in which case you must be guilty.

Awesome.

8

I don’t see where a priest is even mentioned as being involved in the Jacob Wetterling case. Why did you say this, Chique?

What does that have to do with the Reker girls?

The priest involved in what? In the Jacob Wetterling case? But there was no priest involved in the Jacob Wetterling case, that I can see. Are you the one implying that the masked gunman who abducted Jacob Wetterling might have been the priest who is being investigated for the Reker girls?

If so–Why?

9

chique is not making these inferences, a whole lot of people in the area are.
This area is up in arms about this.
The St Cloud metro area is heavily catholic, Rome West, and a lot of people are having a hard time with the situation.

10

The Star Tribune article linked to mentioned that the authorities had decided to consider the files on the priests provided in connection to the Reker case a lead in the Wetterling case as well.

Apparently, recent events have made the authorities decide to check out priests as possible suspects. Most likely, IMHO, this is because normally they would have to show probable cause to get the monastery to hand over records, and they seem to have no chance of that, but right now the monastery is inclined to be super cooperative. I really don’t see any evidence that would even get me to qualify the statement with a “may”, except that it hasn’t been shown to have been impossible. But then, it also “may” have been Bob Barker or Carl Sagan, for all I know.

11

Because of the ‘more links’ part of my previous post.

**Please do read that link.

I am implying nothing. I’m relying on and relaying local radio, TV, and newspaper reports - not all of which are linkable. Sorry. Price you pay when you live in the sticks and haven’t the resources of CNN or the New York Times.

The Reker and Wetterling stories are the local equivalent of, say, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. Only the national media isn’t descending on this area at this time. If you chose to believe I am lying, that is your prerogative; it does not make the news articles I am reading, seeing, or hearing any less real or true.

And since when did the Pit turn into GD? Have you had any reason to doubt anything I’ve ever said here ever in the past? Am I not allowed to vent upon the current state of affairs in my area?