ST. PAUL – Four survivors of sexual abuse, some at the hands of St. John’s Abbey monks, will be at a news conference Thursday where lawsuits will be announced against St. John’s Abbey and the Diocese of St. Cloud.

Abbey monk Richard Eckroth also will be named as a defendant, according to clergy sex abuse attorney Jeff Anderson. Two survivors who previously settled lawsuits with St. John’s Abbey are expected to discuss their experiences at the news conference.

They were abused by Eckroth and the Rev. Cosmas Dahlheimer. It’s expected that Anderson will file a lawsuit that accuses St. John’s Abbey and the Diocese of St. Cloud of creating a public nuisance by their handling of allegations against their monks and priests.

Anderson plans to ask St. John’s and the Diocese of St. Cloud again to release all the files of clerics credibly accused of sexual abuse. St. John’s has publicly named 22 clerics, and the Diocese of St. Cloud has named 33 clerics with credible allegations of child sexual abuse against them, according to Anderson.

Anderson also expects to file suit against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.