WISCONSIN
SNAP Wisconsin
Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director
CONTACT: 414.429.7259
Only after having been discovered by a victim’s advocacy group, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has finally confirmed today that they have returned to ministry Fr. John Schreiter after he was removed a second time from a Waukesha parish for allegedly sexually assaulting teenagers (story posted below). Schreiter, who was pastor of a parish in Waukesha, has “retired” and left the state, presumably, to Arizona. He goes as a priest in good standing, according to Listecki, who can continue in Arizona or anywhere else to work, counsel and pray with children and families.
“Why would Archbishop Listecki want to keep secret his decision and belief that Schreiter is innocent?
Perhaps, because as detailed in the SNAP release last week, Listecki appears to have the troubling history of exonerating more priests with sexual assault reports than any bishop in the United States.
A national study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice shows that even the US Bishops have maintained that the number of falsely accused priests is nine percent. In Listecki’s former diocese of La Crosse, and now it seems in his new Archdiocese of Milwaukee, the number of falsely accused priests or mysteriously “unsubstantiated” reports (i.e., “the victim is lying”) is truly miraculous, near 70 percent, or six times the national average. That’s by far the highest clearance rate for priests who may have harmed youngsters in the United States.
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