Diocese Served with Dozens of Lawsuits

By David Unze
St. Cloud Times
May 23, 2016

http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/2016/05/23/diocese-served-dozens-lawsuits/84782224/

Attorney Jeffrey Anderson, right, holds pictures of Fr. Anthony Marfori at a news conference March 16 announcing a second lawsuit against Marfori, who used to teach at Cathedral High School. With him is Attorney Mike Bryant.

The Diocese of St. Cloud on Monday was served with several dozen civil lawsuits alleging sexual abuse against children by former monks and priests who were assigned positions within the diocese.

The filings came just ahead of Wednesday's deadline to file lawsuits under the Child Victims Act, which provided a three-year window in which victims could sue for decades-old sexual abuse. Those claims previously would have been dismissed because of statute of limitations violations.

The lawsuits served Monday on the diocese involve priests and monks from multiple religious orders and cover conduct that happened 30 years or more ago, said Michael Bryant, the St. Cloud attorney who prepared the lawsuits. Bryant said he served 75 complaints on the diocese Monday.

The diocese said it has received 73 such complaints in the three years that the Child Victims Act window has been in effect.

Those filings mean almost 900 lawsuits have been initiated in Minnesota by Bryant and Jeff Andersonsince the Child Victims Act has been law. Many have been filed against clergy, but other defendants statewide have included ?schools, Lutheran churches, a children's theater company and the Boy Scouts.

And Anderson believes that number likely will go higher in the next two days.

"It just changed 10 minutes ago," Anderson said in a phone conversation Monday morning. "There's a call we just finished and did a complaint on it. So the bottom line is the next two days we're ready to field additional calls. And, yes, there will be some."

St. Cloud Bishop Donald Kettler said Monday in a statement that the diocese is reviewing the claims and that he wants to resolve them "in a fair and just manner while also allowing for the continuation of the work of the Church in our communities."

He encouraged anyone who has suffered sexual abuse by a member of the clergy to come forward, regardless of when the abuse happened.

“I apologize on behalf of the Church to all victims and survivors of abuse, who have had to live through, and with, these horrible experiences,” Kettler said. “Our diocese is committed to helping them find healing and protecting all children and young people from abuse.”

The Child Victims Act has led to bankruptcies in two Minnesota dioceses. It also has led to the release of numerous priest and monk personnel files and an inside look at how religious orders handle abuse claims and the men against whom those complaints are lodged.

"The two biggest things that it's meant is more names have been disclosed and confirmed and we've gotten files," Bryant said. "The files have given us an incredible look at a number of things that were not disclosed in the past."

Many of the priests had accusations against them that church officials knew about, but didn't act on, Bryant said.

"Getting the files and getting the truth out there has been the key to all of this," he said.

The diocese had been served with less than a dozen cases in Child Victims Act window, before Monday.

Contact information for victim advocates can be found on the diocese's website.

Contact: dunze@stcloudtimes.com