Archdiocese releases names of 19 clergy accused of sexual abuse of a minor

Pioneer Press, Minnesota/November 3, 2017

By Deanna Weniger

The names of 19 men have been added to the growing list of abusers who at some point served or spent time in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The statement, posted Friday on the archdiocese’s website, defined the men as those “who have substantiated claims of sexual abuse of a minor against them.”

All but one of the men committed the alleged abuse outside of the Twin Cities, but were included because they spent some time during their careers at the local diocese, the statement said.

One man, Vincent Worzalla, who died in 1962, was accused of abuse within the local diocese. He worked at Holy Cross in Minneapolis from 1915 to 1951 and at Holy Trinity in South St. Paul from 1951 until his death.

He is being disclosed now “based on recent interviews with victims/survivors who courageously came forward,” the statement said.

Some of the names on the list already had been released, due to prior litigation. Fourteen are deceased.

Those still living are James Moeglein, Dunstan Moorse, Michael Paquet, James Phillips and Thomas O’Brien.

The others listed are Cornelius Devenster, John Gleason, Othmar Hohmann, Paul Kabat, Thomas Meyer, Orville Munie, John Murphy, David Roney, Urban Schmitt, Michael Skoblik, Charles Stark, Emil Twardochleb and Pirmin Wendt.

The names were added to a previous list of 71 clergy who either committed alleged abuse within the diocese or worked there but committed the alleged abuse elsewhere.

The statement ends with a call for those who have been abused to contact law enforcement.

After a torrent of abuse claims, the Twin Cities archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection nearly three years ago. A judge in U.S. Bankruptcy Court is considering financial plans and how they should ultimately dictate the payout to survivors.