Judge rules to continue civil sex abuse case against Rev. Bede Parry now an Episcopal Priest
New evidence points to Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori knowing about Parry’s sexual proclivities
Judge rules to continue civil sex abuse case
Abbey’s Motion to Dismiss Denied; Parry Case Moves Forward
On October 21, 2011 a judge in Nodaway County, Missouri dismissed Conception Abbey’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought against the Abbey by one of Fr. Bede Parry’s victims. (See text, below)
July 19, 2011 Letter to Abbot Polan
Gregory Polan
During a May 18, 2011, telephone conversation, we discussed … Your failure to disclose misconduct by Bede Parry and other monks following the 2002 shooting at Conception Abbey.
Regarding Hugh Tasch
Fr. Hugh Tasch
According to separate sources, Fr. Hugh Tasch allegedly engaged in unwelcomed sexual contact with young men at Conception Abbey.
Tasch, a self-proclaimed “mystic”, reportedly believed that initiates into his mystical circle could prove their obedience and love to God by their openness to his own sexual advances.
KC man’s lawsuit accuses local priest and monk of abusing him when he was a boy
Fr. Isaac True
A Kansas City area man on Thursday filed a lawsuit accusing a local priest and a monk of sexually abusing him on multiple occasions when he was a boy.
The lawsuit, filed in Jackson County Circuit Court by Jon David Couzens Jr., alleges that Monsignor Thomas J. O’Brien, a retired priest in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, and the Rev. Isaac True of Conception Abbey in northwest Missouri molested him beginning when he was 9 years old. The lawsuit also names the diocese and Conception Abbey as defendants.
Churches full of sinners, of course
Two sexual molestation lawsuits against yet another Catholic institution surfaced late this summer. Bede Parry was a priest and director for a boys’ choir at Conception Abbey in Conception, Mo., about 17 miles southeast of Maryville. While supervising a boys’ choir camp in 1987, he allegedly engaged in sexual relations with a minor.
Nevada Bishop Spins Presiding Bishop’s Role…
The 2005 sex abuse policy manual for All Saints Episcopal Church, Las Vegas, where Bede Parry was employed was very clear that “All Employees will be screened during an interview for Specific characteristics which are seen as possible indicators of risk pertaining to child sexual abuse prior to employment.”
Hanus to Parry: Be Especially Observant of Celibacy Vow
When Bede Parry was ordained in 1983, Conception Abbey’s Jerome Hanus (photo, left) had some advice for Parry. Abbot Jerome Hanus told Parry that he must be “especially observant” of his vow of celibacy. Seems like odd advice for a monk on his ordination day… unless the advice comes from Hanus, who was well aware of Parry’s history of sexual misconduct.
Tip of the Iceberg
We have received tips and allegations of misconduct against several members of the Conception Abbey community including:
Conception Abbey named in second lawsuit
(Maryville, Mo.) A second lawsuit was filed last week in Nodaway County Circuit Court alleging that a former monk there, who was also an ordained priest, abused a teenage boy in the early 1980s.
St. John’s Abbey Covered Up Abuse by Bede Parry
(Left to Right… St. John’s Abbey Monks Fr. Rene McGraw, Fr. Roman Paur, Abbot Theisen, Abbot Klassen)
Br. Bede Parry from Conception Abbey in Missouri attended the St. John’s University School of Theology between 1979 and 1982. During his second year, Br. Parry pursued a college freshman, twenty years his junior, who was interested in music and the priesthood. The first sexual misconduct included oral sex in a St. John’s University music room in the spring of 1981. The misconduct continued into the fall of 1981 when another student, also being pursued by Br. Parry, reported the misconduct to Fr. Rene McGraw.
Abbey Faces Another Lawsuit
(News-Press Now) Another lawsuit was filed Thursday against Conception Abbey, alleging a priest sexually abused the plaintiff in the 1980s.
Second lawsuit filed against Conception Abbey alleging cover-up over former monk
(Kansas City Star) A second lawsuit has been filed against a northwest Missouri abbey alleging cover-up of sexual abuse by a former monk who directed its boys’ choir in the 1980s.
Lawsuit #2 Filed Against Conception Abbey
A second lawsuit was filed in Missouri today. The lawsuit, which names Conception Abbey as a defendant, alleges that Bede Parry sexually abused a fifteen year old member of the Conception Abbey Boys Choir over a eighteen month period beginning in 1982.
Civil Lawsuit Casts Wide Net
A civil lawsuit against Conception Abbey in rural Missouri has raised lingering questions about decisions made by both Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dubuque, Iowa.