MO- More new revelations; SNAP responds

By David Clohessy
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
July 9, 2014

http://www.snapnetwork.org/mo_more_new_revelations_snap_responds

More newly-released Catholic Church records show that St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson hid clergy sex crimes when he worked in Minnesota.

According to a Minnesota TV station:

“The documents fault Carlson, who was (a Saint Paul archdiocesan official) from the 1970s to 1990s.

The documents say (he) and other church officials mishandled and minimized allegations against former priest and accused child molester Wajda, which allowed Wajda to continue to serve as a priest.

According to the documents, Wajda allegedly began abusing children a month after his ordination in 1973. The allegations are that Carlson and other church officials “learned in 1981 that Wajda was molesting boys under the guise of counseling but waited five years before sending him to psychiatric care.”

We in SNAP are grateful to the brave Minnesota victims who continue to tear off layer and layer of unhealthy secrecy in church offices and files about abuse and cover up.

We're also grateful to the Minnesota legislators who reformed their state's child abuse laws so that cover ups like these can be revealed through civil lawsuits.

And we hope that the continually damaging disclosures about Carlson will prod St. Louis Catholic officials to get on the right side of history and share what they know about clergy sex crimes and cover ups here with law enforcement agencies and advocacy groups.

Click here for more records on Carlson in the Fr. Wajda case.