WISCONSIN
SNAP Wisconsin
Wisconsin priests identified as “guilty of sexual misconduct with a minor” in landmark Philadelphia clergy sex abuse case
Statement by John Pilmaier, SNAP Wisconsin Director
CONTACT: 414.336.8575
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that two religious order priests from Wisconsin appear on a list compiled by Monsignor William Lynn, the former secretary for clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, as having been identified as “guilty of sexual misconduct with a minor”. Lynn became the highest ranking official of the Catholic Church to be tried and found guilty of endangering the welfare of children in a landmark case for his role in providing known sex offending clergy continued access to children. Lynn was sentenced in July to three to six years in prison.
The Wisconsin priests who appear on the list of sex offending clerics drafted by Lynn in 1994 and later ordered shredded by former Cardinal Archbishop of Philadelphia Anthony Bevilacqua belong to a Milwaukee area religious order, the Franciscan Friars of the Assumption BVM Province. The clerics are Fr. Stanley Janowski and Fr. DePaul Sobotka who each taught at Archbishop Ryan High School in Northeast Philadelphia. Janowski was once vice principal of the school and the Franciscan’s acknowledged paying a settlement to one of his accusers.
The Franciscan Friars of the Assumption BVM Province are based in Franklin Wisconsin and have a presence throughout the state, including at parishes, hospitals, and universities. In the Milwaukee area they are affiliated with St. Francis Seminary, Cardinal Stritch University, and Sacred Heart School of Theology.
The appearance of two Wisconsin priests on a list of clergy sex offenders in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia illustrates a continuing danger to children that church officials, including Archbishop Jerome Listecki, refuses to address. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s selective list of 44 sex offending clerics does not include priests, nuns, and brothers who belong to the multitude of religious orders who work in the archdiocese. According to Milwaukee church officials over half of all clergy affiliated with the diocese belong to religious orders.
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