ST. LOUIS (MO)
DavidClohessy.com [St. Louis MO]
August 1, 2024
By David G. Clohessy
Dear Bishop Johnston:
In a lawsuit that has garnered considerable attention – and is widely available online and in the state’s largest newspaper and other news outlets – a Ralph Wehner stands publicly accused of molesting a child in St. Louis.
We believe that many are worried and are asking themselves “Is the Ralph Wehner who is now in Kansas City the same Ralph Wehner who reportedly sexually abused a child in St. Louis?”
Some are members of Our Lady of Good Counsel parish in Westport, where a photo and biographical information is posted on their website about a Ralph Wehner who works there.
Others are Kansas City area Catholic church members and employees who know, have read or have been told that a Ralph Wehner now works at your chancery office downtown in the archives?
Some are neighbors who live near a Ralph Wehner who has been in Kansas City since 2009 and who we believe owns a home on a prominent street in Kansas City.
Some are Catholics who are or were congregants at St. Alban Roe parish in the St. Louis suburb of Glencoe, where the crimes allegedly happened.
Some are former neighbors or co-workers of a Ralph Wehner in St. Louis, where he was born and raised.
We at SNAP share their concerns. While we can’t be 100% certain, we strongly believe a man who reportedly molested a boy years ago is working in a church today.
(We have reached this conclusion carefully and after considerable discussion, using the services of a widely respected private investigative firm, proprietary data bases and online research. Among other sources, we’ve looked at license information, home purchase information, mailing address information, Newspapers.com, other mainstream media sources and church publications and websites – at both the diocesan and parish levels – in both St. Louis and Kansas City.)
All of us – concerned church members, church staffers and parents and neighbors and indeed the broader public – deserve to know if the cleric who is accused of assaulting a child boy in St. Louis is the same cleric who now works at one of your parishes and your own church headquarters.
If there are two Ralph Wehners, and the one at Good Counsel is NOT the one facing serious accusations of child sexual abuse, we beg you to allay fears and serve the cause of justice by revealing this fact and, thus reassure and comfort parents, parishioners, abuse victims and the public.
If on the other hand, the Ralph Wehner at Good Counsel and at your headquarters IS indeed the same one the one facing serious accusations of child sexual abuse, we beg you to protect kids and serve the cause of justice by revealing this fact, suspending him and using your considerable resources to warn the public about him and urge anyone who may have been hurt by him to come forward, get help, protect others and start healing.
There is a second new lawsuit against other defendants who are or were in your diocese, members of the ultra-conservative ‘breakaway’ Catholic group called the SSPX.
It charges that Fr. Pierre Duverger began counseling a local couple, the “began seeing (the) wife alone” and then after the husband eventually moved out, “began a long-term relationship” with her while she “continued seeing him in counseling (often) at all hours of the day and night” leaving their six children “often at home alone for long periods” while she was at the priests’ house.
(While Fr. Duverger is reportedly in Florida, a second defendant, Arnaud Rostand is in a French prison after admitting that he molested kids.)
You know the troubled history of SSPX. You also know that many adult Catholics have been exploited, manipulated, betrayed and abused by clerics who abuse the power they have as spiritual guides and confessors and counselors.
Here again, we ask that you quickly warn your flock and the public about SSPX in general and the two alleged wrongdoers named in recent lawsuits (or at least about the two clerics individually).
Why?
–Because the SSPX headquarters is in your diocese
–Because some SSPX members face or have faced allegations of serious wrongdoing
–Because some SSPX clerics are no doubt in your diocese now and interact with your parishioners (even if the clerics do not have formal assignments)
–Because like most Catholic religious orders, the SSPX largely flies ‘under the radar’ without the scrutiny that other church institutions get from the public and the news media
–Because the SSPX has been controversial and the target of considerable litigation and allegations of various kinds of abuse
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/01/retreat-christian-soldiers/603043/
–Because many Catholics who belong to or are attracted to SSPX churches and clergy are especially devout and are even more vulnerable to abuse than other Catholics are
If you won’t warn the public and your parishioners about the SSPX, we hope you’ll at least warn them about the particular wrongdoers named in these new lawsuits, Fr. Duverger and Fr. Rostand.
In light of these two lawsuits – and the serious allegations they contain – we respectfully ask you to promptly take these small but crucial steps towards protecting the vulnerable, healing the wounded, and honoring your pledges to be transparent about misdeeds, sexual and otherwise.
Remember, it’s best to err on the side of caution. And it’s your duty – according to church law, practice and tradition – to safeguard your flock from threats to their well-being.
Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you promptly.
David G. Clohessy
Former national director of SNAP
Current volunteer director of Missouri SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priest
Prevent Abuse LLC
7234 Arsenal St., St. Louis MO 63143
314-566-9790 (cell)