NEWS RELEASE

Diocese of St. Cloud

MEDIA CONTACT

Joe Towalski
Director of Communications
(O) 320-258-7624
jtowalski@gw.stcdio.org

 

January 13, 2016

DIOCESE OF ST. CLOUD STATEMENT REGARDING FR. OTHMAR HOHMANN, OSB

The Diocese of St. Cloud is among the defendants named in a civil lawsuit alleging sexual abuse committed by the late Benedictine Father Othmar Hohmann, a monk of Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville who also served in parishes within the Diocese of Saint Cloud.

The diocese is reviewing the complaint.

Bishop Donald Kettler included Father Hohmann on a list he released to the public in January 2014 of 33 clergy likely involved in the sexual abuse of minors in the past. The list included the parishes where these individuals served. Father Hohmann, who was ordained in 1931, served as pastor of Immaculate Conception in New Munich, St. Boniface in Cold Spring and St. Joseph in St. Joseph. He died in 1980.

Bishop Kettler will hold listening sessions for the parish communities where Father Hohmann served. When the schedule and specific locations for the sessions are determined, they will be announced in parish bulletins and from the pulpit; they also will be published on the website for the Diocese of Saint Cloud (www.stclouddiocese.org) and in The Visitor newspaper.

Bishop Kettler is committed to transparency and providing pastoral assistance to help victims of abuse to find justice and healing. He encourages all victims of abuse to come forward. Contact information for victim advocates and county officials to whom abuse can be reported is available online at: https://stcdio.org/about/safe-environment/how-to-report-abuse.