Chaminade Julienne President Daniel Meixner said in a statement Wednesday that allegations against one of the men, Bro. Francis Russell, stemmed from his assignment to the school during the 1965-1966 school year. He said the Marianists notified the school about Russell in November 2019 and letters were sent to alumni from that year.
Russell joined the order in 1939 and died in 1991, according to information released by the order. He worked at four schools in Ohio, including in Hamilton and Cincinnati.
Meixner said 13 men on the list released Wednesday worked at Chaminade Julienne or its predecessor, Chaminade High School, all prior to 1999, including six Marianists “not previously known to our school.” Russell is the only one with a credible claim of abuse while assigned at the school, Meixner said.
University of Dayton officials said eight men on the list worked at UD, all prior to 2012. UD President Eric Spina and the Rev. James Fitz, the university’s vice president for mission and rector, addressed the list in a letter to the campus Wednesday.
“None of those who served at UD were found to have a confirmed case of abuse of a minor in the context of their service here,” the letter says. “The university also is not aware of any credible allegations by University of Dayton students of sexual abuse against these men.”
The Rev. Oscar Vasquez, provincial of the Marianist Province of the United States, released a statement along with the list saying, in part: “In publishing this list, we hope and pray that survivors will be validated in their experiences, and that our commitment to transparency will help rebuild trust.
“We regret the suffering we may have caused both in previously not releasing these names and in doing so now. We also realize that some will be deeply troubled to find the name of a brother they knew personally and for whom they may have fond memories and deep respect.”
Vasquez wrote that the order initially intended to release the list in March, but that was pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Read the full statement here:
Vasquez said he expects and encourages additional victims to step forward. He, as well as UD and Chaminade Julienne officials, said their institutions long ago put in extensive policies and practices to prevent the abuse of children.
“We are angered and saddened for those children and their families who have deeply suffered,” Meixner wrote. “We continue to pray for them and all who continue to experience pain, betrayal and loss … and we pray that this evil will never happen again.”
Dan Frondorf, local leader of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, called the order’s statement released Wednesday “troublesome, and very self serving to the order.”
“They take great effort to let us all know they have undertaken ‘special penances’ and prayed a lot about their abusive priests, but they don’t say how they’ve made actual, meaningful, affirmative, and effective atonement to the actual victims of the abuse for which they apologize,” he said.
Accused Marianists who worked at Chaminade or Chaminade Julienne High School:
Paul Botty
Professed Vows: 1980
Status: Removed from Public Ministry 1986. Withdrew from Society of Mary 1992. Died 2007.
Bernard Joseph Hartman
Professed Vows: 1958
Status: Removed from Public Ministry 1997
William Charles Hildebrand
Professed Vows: 1922
Status: Died 1979
John Joseph Keegan
Professed Vows: 1945
Status: Withdrew from the Society of Mary 1962. Died 2007.
Walter Anthony Klick
Professed Vows: 1931
Status: Died 1979
Robert Aloysius Lindemann
Professed Vows: 1941
Status: Died 1995
Frederick Francis Mathues
Professed Vows: 1943
Ordained: 1952
Status: Died 1972
Julius F. May
Professed Vows: 1924
Status: Died 1970
Francis Paul Meder
Professed Vows: 1911
Status: Died 1976
Francis Anthony Russell
Professed Vows: 1939
Status: Died 1991
Lawrence William Sandman
Professed Vows: 1944
Status: Withdrew from Society of Mary 1959. Died 2009.
Joseph Patrick Tedesco
Professed Vows: 1971
Ordained: 1983
Status: Died 2016
Daniel Albert Triulzi
Professed Vows: 1966
Ordained: 1981
Status: Removed from Public Ministry 2006. Died 2017
Accused Marianists who worked at the University of Dayton:
Edward Joseph Dury
Professed Vows: 1920
Status: Died 1974
John Joseph Finke
Professed Vows: 1925
Ordained: 1937
Status: Died 1983
Bernard Louis Horst
Professed Vows: 1934
Ordained: 1945
Status: Died 2001
Francis Paul Meder *
Ralph August Mravintz
Professed Vows: 1944
Status: Died 2006
Mario James Pariante
Professed Vows: 1974
Ordained: 1990
Status: Withdrew from Society of Mary 2001. Laicized 2001
Joseph Patrick Tedesco *
Terrence Dennis Wong
Professed Vows: 1958
Status: Withdrew from the Society of Mary 1989. Died 1997
* Also worked at Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School. Details listed there.
The full list:
The Dayton Daily News is continuing to gather information on these cases and allegations and this story will be updated when more information is available.
Prior reporting:
A Dayton Daily News investigation in 2018 identified seven Marianists who worked in Dayton before or after facing accusations of inappropriate behavior or sexual abuse.
Last year, students from Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School received letters asking them to report abuse after the Dayton Daily News identified that a former teacher there in the 1970s was later convicted of abusing students in Cleveland.
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