| Assignment Record – Rev. Francis F. Hoefgen, O.S.B. Summary of Case: Francis F. Hoefgen became a Benedictine monk in at St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, MN 1973 and was ordained a priest in 1979. He was then assigned to a St. Cloud parish, as an assistant priest. In 1984 he admitted to his superiors and to the local police chief - who was also one of Hoefger's parishioners - that he had sexually abused a 17-year-old boy. This was after the boy disclosed the abuse to a psychologist, who alerted authorities. Hoefgen was not charged; he was quietly sent to St. Luke's Institute in MD for six months of psychiatric treatment, then returned to ministry in a St. Paul-Minneapolis parish. He was removed from parish work and returned to St. John's Abbey after his victim sued, in 1992. Hoefger was allowed to work as St. John's guest master, and as a spiritual director and private retreat leader until July 2002, after the U.S. bishops established the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. He eventually left the priesthood, and was laicized in November 2011. In November 2013 Hoefgen was accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy ages 11-13, from 1989-1992. He was charged in May 2014 with first degree criminal sexual conduct related to that case; a jury acquitted him in May 2015. Ordained: 1979 |
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| Start | Stop | Parish/Assignment | Town/Accusations | State | Position | Notes |
1979 St. Cloud bishop was George Henry Speltz (1968-1987). |
1984 | St. Boniface's | Cold Spring • Hoefgen admitted to his superiors in 1984 to sexual abusing a 17- year-old boy. The admission came after Hoegen's victim disclosed the abuse to a psychologist and authorities were notified. Hoefgen and the boy met when the boy was hospitalized for attempted suicide. The boy moved in with Hoefgen for a few weeks, after fighting with his parents. The abuse occurred at St. Boniface's parish center. |
MN | 2/2 | St. Boniface's had a school with 270-223 students. Hoefgen also admitted the abuse to the Cold Spring police chief, who was a St. Boniface parishioner. He met with Hoefgen privately - not at the police station or rectory - to avoid |
| May 1984 | Oct. 1984 | St. Luke Institute | Silver Spring | MD | in-patient | Hoefgen is not indexed in the 1985 Directory. St. John's Abbott, Jerome Theisen, sent Hoegen to treatment for six months. |
| Oct. 1984 | St. John's Abbey | Collegeville | MN | |||
July 1985 St. Paul-Minneapolis archbishop was John Robert Roach (1975-1995). |
1987 | St. Boniface's | Hastings | MN | 2/2 | St. Boniface merged with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish in 1987. |
| 1987 | October 1992 | St. Elizabeth Ann Seton | Hastings • Hoefgen was accused in a November 2013 lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy, ages 10-13, from 1989-1992. |
MN | 2/3 | St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's had a school with 506-467 students, and a CCD program with 864-768 students. Hoefgen was removed from public ministry in 1992 after he was sued by the young man he admitted to sexually abusing in 1984. |
| 1985 | 1994 | Villa Maria Center | Frontenac | MN | spiritual director and individual retreat leader | |
1992 St. Cloud bishop was Jerome George Hanus, O.S.B. (1987-1994), followed by John Francis Kinney (1995-2013). |
2011 | St. John's Abbey | Collegeville | MN | guest master; spiritual director | Hofgen "stepped down" from his positions in July 2002, after the U.S. bishops established the "Dallas Charter". |
| 2011 | 2015 | Columbia Heights | MN | In November 2013 the law firm representing the young man accusing Hoefgen of sexually abusing him from 1989-1992 stated it knew of four alleged victims of Hoefgen. He was charged in May 2014 with first degree criminal sexual conduct. In May 2015 Hoefgen was acquitted by a jury. |
Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1980-2012)
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