Posted on 04/24/2002 12:17:33 PM PDT by Palladin
Priest accused by four serves at hospitals
Brothers say pastor molested them as children; monitoring of his work as a chaplain is questioned
By MARY ZAHN and TOM HEINEN of the Journal Sentinel staff
After being told that a priest had sexually molested four children in a large Catholic family, the Milwaukee Archdiocese assigned him to work for years as a hospital chaplain, despite an agreement that he would never be placed in a job where he had access to children.
"If you can imagine it, he did it. A lot of times I'd try to tell my parents that I didn't want to go out there and they said, 'Father Hanser has done so much for this family. . . . ' And it made it very, very hard. I didn't know what to do. "
- John Ramstack,
sexual abuse victim
"He just wormed his way into our lives. He married my eldest brother, Mike, and he was molesting John. John was the altar boy at their wedding. This had been going on for years."
- Jeanne Kratzer, on the molestation of her brothers.
Father David J. Hanser works 32 hours a week as a chaplain at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Milwaukee. Some of those hours are spent as a chaplain at Elmbrook Memorial Hospital in Brookfield, and he is on call once a month for night assignments at St. Joseph's, Elmbrook, and two other hospitals in the Covenant Healthcare System Inc., according to a Covenant spokesman.
Archdiocesan and Covenant spokesmen say that key officials at the hospital were repeatedly informed of Hanser's background, that he was monitored over the years, and that he was restricted from unsupervised contact with children.
But there are serious questions about how effective the communication and monitoring have been.
A former president of St. Joseph's said he could not recall ever being informed of the priest's background or being warned of any restrictions on his ministry. And two current supervising nurses, including one in the hospital's pediatric unit, said they were unaware Hanser was restricted from contact with children.
Hanser, 70, is one of six priests with alleged or confirmed records of sexual assault who have been permitted by the archdiocese to continue in active ministry. A commission appointed by Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland is re-evaluating those decisions as its top priority - part of a larger review of the archdiocese's handling of allegations of sexual misconduct by clergy.
John Ramstack, 45, said he and three of his five brothers were molested by Hanser when they were boys after Hanser befriended his parents and their 10 children. Ramstack, who lives in Waukesha County, said much of the sexual abuse occurred at Hanser's cottage on Moose Lake in the Town of Merton, where he often invited the family.
The Milwaukee Archdiocese, he said, has known details of the abuse since 1988. In an out-of-court settlement reached the next year, the archdiocese agreed not to let Hanser work in any job where he had access to or contact with children, according to a copy of the agreement provided by Ramstack.
Reached at his Moose Lake home and asked for his reaction to the family's allegations, Hanser replied, "I don't think I can make any comment right now."
Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba, who was responsible for Hanser's monitoring, declined to be interviewed for this article and Weakland could not be reached for comment.
Archdiocesan spokesman Jerry Topczewski said Hanser went into treatment after the allegations came to light and was placed in a hospital ministry at St. Joseph's in 1991 after a therapist assured archdiocesan officials that there was no risk to children. He was not allowed to have unsupervised contact with children or to work in the pediatric areas of the hospital, Topczewski said.
The hospital's chief administrator was notified of the allegations and the restrictions placed on Hanser, he said. In a statement, Covenant Healthcare said it had followed archdiocesan guidelines for monitoring the priest.
"At the onset, and on multiple occasions, Bishop Sklba personally contacted the director of pastoral care at the hospital and reviewed the background regarding the allegation of sexual abuse, the assurances of therapists, and the ministry restrictions placed upon Father Hanser by the archdiocese," Topczewski said.
Hanser has notified the archdiocese and St. Joseph's Hospital that he plans to retire in early May, according to Topczewski.
Started when boy was 11
Ramstack said the abuse began with overnighters at the priest's cottage when Ramstack was about 11 years old. It continued until he was 16.
"He'd invite my two older brothers and myself and then he would molest me in one room while my brothers were sleeping in another room," Ramstack said.
"If you can imagine it, he did it. A lot of times I'd try to tell my parents that I didn't want to go out there and they said, 'Father Hanser has done so much for this family. He's invited us out (to the cottage), and he taught you how to water ski. He takes us out there and he treats us like gold at his cottage.' And it made it very, very hard."
In 1988, he said, the anguish of keeping the horrific secret spilled out, and he told his brothers. In an incredible instant, he realized he wasn't the only victim in the family.
Hoping to spare other boys the pain they endured, the brothers asked Sklba to come to their parents' home to hear their stories.Four of Ramstack's five brothers were present, including three who accused Hanser of abuse.
At the time, Hanser was pastor of a Waukesha County church, Ramstack said. Hanser was immediately removed from that position, he said.
Early the next year, the family was stunned to learn where Hanser had landed.
"I was an RN working at St. Luke's (Medical Center)," said Jeanne Kratzer, John's sister. "One evening I was working and had a patient who was to go into heart surgery and the wife was very emotional. I felt it would do her some good to talk to a priest. So I called down to pastoral care that evening and I asked for a priest.
"I was speaking to a nun and she said 'Oh, we have a new priest.' And I said 'Oh really, what's his name?' And she said 'Father David Hanser.' I said tell him that Jeanne Ramstack would love to see him on the floor. He never came to the floor."
Kratzer said she met the next day with the head of the hospital's pastoral care department, who had not been told of Hanser's past.
The Rev. Harvey Berg, now a retired Lutheran minister, was then director of pastoral care at St. Luke's. Berg said Hanser was enrolled with several other students in a 12-week internship program in clinical pastoral education from late February to the end of May in 1989.
Jeanne Kratzer raised her concerns near the end of the 11th week. Hanser was prohibited from further contact with patients that week. He completed the final week of group evaluations, which were routinely conducted away from the hospital, and got credit for the program, Berg said.
Asked if the allegations against Hanser came as a surprise, Berg said, "Very much so."
Berg said he did not call archdiocesan officials after learning of the allegations and did not know if hospital administrators did.
Kratzer immediately tried to call Bishop Sklba.
"I talked to a nun who was the secretary at the time, and I told her what happened. I said you need to tell him that you lied to my family, and after all of this you've allowed him to work."
Sklba, she said, never returned her phone call.
(Continued at link above)
Zero tolerance? One strike you're out? I'll believe it when I see it.
How about an all gay monestary on some isolated island ?
Proving that PARENTS need to learn more about listening to their children. Not only have thousands of parents refused to listen to their children about sexual abuse. How many children in both parochial and public schools cry in the morning as they are being forced to go to schools, and tell their parents for years on end that they are being teased and bullied, and the complaints fall on deaf ears?
These guys are certainly not leaders much less Moral Catholic Leaders,all of their answers were those of Philadelphia Lawyers.
Their Arrogance is Breathtaking.
They will not acknowledge the severe Homosexual problem in the Priesthood and I will include an excerpt from a Book by A.W. Richard Sipe.
The following is from "Sex, Priests and power" by A.W. Richard Sipe,page 132
"A 1980 study of 50 gay Priests by a Roman Catholic priest was startling, and it remains so (Wagner, 1980). Only 4% of that group were sexually abstinent; the other 90% had abandoned the celebate process.The priests in the study ranged in age from 27 to 58.
They averaged 226.8 sexual partners each."Of some note is the fact that nine respondents (18 percent) in this sample had no more than ten partners total, while (22 percent)reported five hundred or more."
____________________________________________________________ The frightening part of this mess is that some bishops are still talking about rehabilitation of perverted priests and keeping them in the ministry.
Can you imagine having a Priest celebrate Mass who has 500 or more sexual partners.
The only answer I can think of is they must be out of their minds.
Or they are all fags. 26 posted on 4/22/02 2:05 PM Pacific by chatham [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
Do you have a source for that statement or the documentation?
One of the worst bishops of the over 300 bishops in the U.S. -- one of the most liberal, and therefore, one of the most "tolerant."
Thank God because of Church law he was forced to submit his resignation on April 2, 2002, which was his 75th birthday.
Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba, who was responsible for Hanser's monitoring, declined to be interviewed for this article and Weakland could not be reached for comment.
I'll bet!
You immediately report them to the police and then have them laicized. Period. This man is obviously not fit for the priesthood. There is no way you can justify keeping a man in the active ministry who can't be trusted around children OR who refuses to honor his vow of celibacy. This shouldn't even be up for discussion. I don't care if we lose 1/2 the priests in America...any one of them who would leave over this is one we're better off without.
The Link-Up, official website of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests,) has the whole sad catalogue of victims' stories, from Maine to California and from the Canadian border to the Mexican border. Alaska and Hawaii, too. Although I never actually took a count, I believe all dioceses have been represented in the 10 years this organization has existed.
I expect we will be hearing more and more of these stories, as Philadelphia sets up a grand jury investigation, and DA Jeanine Piro gets set to take on the NY archdiocese.
If any diocese has been spared, please let me know. It would be one small ray of hope in this dark, tawdry episode in the life of the Catholic Church.
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