Dubeque

Statement of Rita J Prince
September 20, 2006

My brother, Patrick Michael Ryan, was born October 17, 1951 in California. He was the third child and first son
of Imy and Pat L. Ryan. Patrick led a privileged life attending private school and going to the country club
four times a week for golf, swim and tennis lessons.

Patrick always did well in school, an A student. He took Latin in high school and was on the tennis team. He
was San Diego City Champion at Ping Pong when he was 13. He played little league and exceeded at
everything he tried. He loved photography. Patrick was the favorite child, brother and friend.

In the fall of 1969 Patrick headed for St. John's University in Collegeville, MN. Our father graduated from St.
John's in 1949 and wanted Patrick to go to his alma mater. During the first part of Patrick's sophomore year at
St. John's, he came home from school and told our mother that he wasn't going back. He told her that he had
been drugged and raped by one of his professors.

Our father wrote a letter to St. John's, informing the university that Patrick would not be returning due to the
fact that he was drugged and raped by one of his professors.

Patrick was in obvious distress. Our parents placed him in a mental hospital where they believed he was
receiving the best care possible. He ran away from the hospital on February 13, 1971. The police were called
to help find him. My parents were called by an employee of the hospital, who told my parents that Patrick had
been found by the police but taken to jail instead of the hospital. My parents went to the jail to see Patrick.
They were told they could not see him because they hadn't completed the necessary paperwork. Our parents
begged to see their son. They were turned down and went home. About three hours later, a man in a suit
showed up to tell our family that Patrick had hung himself.

In 1971, my parents shared the real reason behind my brother's suicide with just my oldest sister. I did not
know about the rape until about ten years ago when my sister said, "I wonder where we would be today if
Patrick hadn't been drugged and raped by his teacher?"

In approximately April of 2002, I read a newspaper article about clergy sexual abuse. I decided to research
the subject to see if I could learn more about what happened to my brother. I found the contact information
for Maxine Barnett, a victim's advocate for St. John's Abbey.

During our first conversation, I told Ms. Barnett that the only thing I knew was that the professor who raped my
brother was black.

Ms. Barnett called me back and told me that my brother's perpetrator was Father Paul GoPaul. She said that
GoPaul was from Trinidad, that he was Patrick's history professor and that he died in 1988. I asked her how
she knew this was the right person. She stated that she had spoken to Abbot John Klassen and that, "Your
father's letter is in GoPaul's file." According to Maxine, GoPaul was disciplined after the letter arrived. His
punishment was that he was not allowed to reach tenure as a history professor.

Ms. Barnett stated that since both the victim and the accused were dead, the only thing she could offer our
family was counseling.

In approximately June of 2002, our father received a letter from St. John's University. This was a letter sent to
all alumni, asking people if they had been sexually abused during their time at St. John's.

My father called and spoke with Abbot John Klassen about what happened to Patrick.

According to my father, the Abbot said that "Patrick was in heaven because he suffered a terrible loss", "don't
worry, you and your family are going to heaven because of your suffering on earth", and "I'll pray for your
family every day of my life."

Like Ms. Barnett, the Abbot also offered counseling for our family.

The June 2002 conversation with the Abbot seemed to put my dad at ease, perhaps releasing some of the guilt
he felt over sending his son to his alma mater.

Before my father died in 2004, he discussed my brother's abuse, suicide and the letter to the Abbot with Joyce,
a close family friend.

In August of 2006, I began to again research the mystery surrounding my brother's death. I read the articles on
the BishopAccountability.org web site about the October, 2002 settlement with victims of abuse at St. John's.

In a statement, the Abbot said that the settlement with victims met his goals of "resolution, restitution,
reconciliation and healing for past misconduct."

It was my understanding that the Abbot was supposed to report all cases of sexual misconduct whether past,
present or future. The Abbot did not report GoPaul's abuse - or notify the public or alumni in any manner -
even though my brother's case was brought to his attention in April and June of 2002.

Since August, I have learned that my brother was not the only student approached by GoPaul. I have also
learned that after leaving Collegeville, GoPaul worked as a history professor at California State University -
Dominguez Hills.

It is important to our family that the public know Patrick's story. We are worried that there may be additional
victims who are afraid to come forward and that there are families who are suffering in silence, just as our
family has for so long.

It is also important that the public, and those victims who were part of the 2002 settlement, understand that the
Abbot knew about abuse at the hands of Fr. Paul GoPaul in the months leading up to the settlement.

In an "Open Letter of Apology" dated June 7, 2002, the Abbot said that his heart ached as he, "learned more
from victims and therapists about the long-term emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual pain that is
caused by sexual abuse."

The pain is real. In covering up GoPaul's story, the Abbot has ignored our pain.

We are asking that all victims of abuse or misconduct by Fr. Paul GoPaul come forward. We are asking that
anyone approached by Fr. Paul GoPaul come forward. We are asking the same regarding any misconduct by
any member of the St. John's monastic and lay community.

Please help our family and other victims learn the truth and unlock the secrecy, once and for all, in Patrick's
memory.

Rita J Prince

October 1, 2006

Rita Prince / Teri Ryan
1481 Windsong Lane /PO Box 923
Pahrump NV 89048 / Tracyton WA 98393

Dear Ms Prince, / Dear Ms Ryan,

I am writing in response to your request for a copy of the letter you believe your father, Pat L.
Ryan, wrote in late 1970 or early 1971, giving the reason your brother, Patrick M. Ryan was not
returning to Saint John's University. You also asked for a copy of the response to his letter.

I am sorry I was not here to receive you and your sister Teri when you came to Saint John's
last Monday, September 25, but I am happy that my assistant, Father William Skudlarek, was
there to speak with you. As he said, we will do whatever we can to be of help to you.

The archives of both Saint John's Abbey and Saint John's University have been searched for
letters or any other documents related to your brother's time at Saint John's. Nothing at all has
been found in the abbey's archives. There are materials in the university archives, however,
and you will soon be receiving a letter from the President, Brother Dietrich Reinhart, to inform
you of what has been found.

Finally, let me express my deepest sympathy for all that you and your family have suffered over
these past 35 years and to assure you of our readiness to be of further assistance to you if you
so desire.

Sincerely,
Abbot John Klassen, OSB

Copy: Bob Schwiderski

Sept. 25, 2006

Abbot John Klassen
St. John's Abbey
Collegeville MN

Dear Abbot Klassen:

Founded in 1989, SNAP is a 7000+ member support group for women and men who have been wounded by sexually
abusive priests, nuns, seminarians and bishops. We are the largest and oldest such self-help group dedicated to
healing the wounded and protecting the vulnerable.

We wrote you last month about the inexplicably reckless delays in your disclosing of sex abuse allegations against
Rev. Robert Blumeyer, Rev. Michael Bik and Rev. Bruce Wollmering (a disclosure that only happened because a
newspaper was about to publish their names as accused molesters). At that time, we said "For years, you and your
colleagues have kept silent about credible allegations of horrific sex crimes and misconduct by these men. By keeping
these secrets, you have needlessly, selfishly, and callously putting other innocent kids and vulnerable teenagers at
tremendous risk of severe, lifelong harm."

Now, we have learned of yet another Collegeville staff member who has sexually abused children, whose identity your
organization has kept secret.

How many others are there? When will you truly 'come clean,' do what's right, tell the truth, and protect the
vulnerable?

In the early 1970s, Fr. Paul GoPaul drugged and raped young Patrick Michael Ryan. As dozens of clergy sexual abuse
victims have done, Patrick was overwhelmed by the pain and later hanged himself.
in 1971 after having been drugged and raped by a St. John's teacher during his sophomore year. Years

In a subsequent phone conversation with Abbey staff member Maxine Barnett, one of Patrick's sisters was told that the
perpetrator was Fr. Paul GoPaul of Trinidad, who is also deceased and has not been publicly accused of child abuse
before. The victim's family members were offered therapy by the Abbey. Again, however, no public disclosure was
ever made.

The sisters are coming forward now because Abbey officials are failing to honor promises to be open about sexual
abuse by their staff and because they want others hurt by GoPaul to know they aren't alone. We honor them for their
courage. We wish you would show similar courage, however.

You and other Catholic officials - both with the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese and St. John's - have kept the names
of credibly accused child-molesting clerics secret for years and have essentially refused to aggressively reach out to
others who may have been assaulted by the abusive clergymen. Recent events show that such secrecy isn't limited to
the past, but continues even now.

In previous news accounts, by your own admission,
-- for at least eight years, you apparently kept the accusations against Bik secret,
-- for at least two years, you apparently kept the accusations against Wollmering secret, and
-- for at least ten months, you apparently kept the accusations against Blumeyer secret.

How do you explain the dangerous, years-long delays in disclosing the names of child predators? Don't you see that
such secrecy needlessly puts innocent youngsters at risk?

We are also troubled by your apparent decision to selectively provide only partial information about these men's
crimes to law enforcement.

In a recent St. Cloud Times article, abbey spokesman Rev. William Skudlarek said he "was not aware whether the
allegations against the three constituted any sort of criminal behavior," adding "If there were anything here in which
law enforcement would need to be involved with, that would immediately be reported."

This indicates that not all information about sexual abuse allegations is turned over to law enforcement, but only that
information deemed by abbey officials to be important is provided. This is precisely the kind of improper meddling in
potentially crimes by untrained and biased church officials that has been so harmful in the past. The independent
professionals in law enforcement are trained to investigate child sex crimes, not you or your staff. It is your civic and
moral duty, we firmly believe, to give them all potentially relevant material about alleged sex crimes, not to make
selective determinations yourself as to what might be helpful and what is not.

How do you explain refusing to turn over all information about child molestation by clerics to law enforcement? Don't
you understand that such secrecy needlessly puts innocent youngsters at risk and may enable dangerous criminals to
escape prosecution?

In light of these disturbing facts, we strongly urge you to:

- give all information about all sex offenders at your facility to law enforcement immediately,
- pledge to promptly disclose all future credible accusations immediately, not years later,
- use every means possible to aggressively reach out to other who have been hurt or may have been hurt by current
and former monks and employees, and urge them to come forward, get help and call the police.
- use every means possible to aggressively reach out to other who have witnessed or suspected crimes and misconduct
by current and former monks to call the police.

Today, we will again publicly urge parents to ask their kids if they were hurt by one of your clerics. We will prod
victims to find the courage and strength to speak up. We will encourage those who witnessed or suspected crimes by
Bik, Wollmering, Blumeyer and GoPaul to call law enforcement.

We lack the finances and resources to do the kind of thorough and effective outreach of which you are capable.
Nevertheless, we will do our best, as we have for years, to prod those in pain to get help and those with information to
call the police.

We hope to hear from you soon.

Bob Schwiderski
Minnesota Director, SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
Wayzata. 952 471 3422

David Clohessy
National Director, SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
7234 Arsenal Street
St. Louis MO 63143
314 566 9790 cell, 314 645 5915

Barbara Dorris
Outreach Coordinator, SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
6245 Westminster
St. Louis MO 63130
314 862 7688

Two women say their brother was abused at Catholic abbey

He then took his own life; alleged predator is publicly accused for first time

St. John's officials verbally admitted the abuse, sisters say

Their dad's letter, reporting the crimes, is in abbey files, they're convinced

But church officials are still keeping the secret, SNAP complains

Sex abuse group pushes again for more outreach drive

WHAT
After a sidewalk news conference, clergy child molestation victims & their family members will try to hand deliver a
letter to Catholic officials asking them to
--- disclose yet another abusive cleric from a Central Minnesota Catholic abbey,
--- reach out aggressively to the cleric's victims, and
--- turn over to them a letter written by the father of a suicide victim reporting the cleric's crimes.

WHEN
Monday, Sept. 25, 10:30 a.m.

WHO
Women from Washington and Nevada whose brother took his own life after being sexually assaulted and several
clergy molestation victims who belong to a support group SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
(SNAPnetwork.org)

WHERE
Outside St. John's Abbey, in front of the Abbot's office, in Collegeville, MN

WHY
Two sisters of Patrick Michael Ryan (born 10/17/51) say that he hung himself in 1971 after having been drugged and
raped by a St. John's teacher during his sophomore year. Years later, in a conversation with the Abbey's abuse
liaison, Maxine Barnett, one of the sisters was told that the perpetrator was Fr. Paul GoPaul of Trinidad, who is also
deceased and has not been publicly accused of child abuse before. The victim's family members were offered
therapy by the Abbey.

The sisters are coming forward now because Abbey officials are failing to honor promises to be open about sexual
abuse by their staff and because they want others hurt by GoPaul to know they aren't alone.

For the past few months, controversy has surrounded the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese and St. John's Abbey in
Collegeville. Both have kept the names of credibly accused child-molesting clerics, with teaching assignment, secret
for years and have essentially refused to aggressively reach out to others who may have been assaulted by the
abusive clergymen.

In late July, aware a media outlet was about to write a story, St. John's disclosed that three monks there have been
credibly accused of child sexual abuse. Two of them, Rev. Michael Bik & Rev. Bruce Wollmering, allegedly live under
the supervision of their fellow clerics in Collegeville. The third is Rev. Robert Blumeyer (now deceased).

Despite being accused of child molestation in 1997, Bik kept teaching at St. John's prep school until 2002. Wollmering
was accused of sexual harassment in 2004. Blumeyer was accused of sexual abuse almost a year ago. Although
deemed "credible," all of the allegations were kept secret, however, until recently, which "selfishly and callously puts
innocent kids at risk of horrific sex crimes," SNAP says.

SNAP has written the head of the abbey, Abbot John Klassen, urging him to give all records about sex offenders at
the facility to law enforcement immediately and to report all future accusations immediately, not years later. They
have also urged abbey staff to "aggressively reach out" to others who witnessed, suspected or experienced sex
crimes by the monks.

SNAP calls the abbey's recent announcement of the credible allegations "begrudging, belated and inexplicably
reckless."

http://www.startribune.com/614/story/679312.html

CONTACT
David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP national director 314 566 9790 cell
Bob Schwiderski of Wayzata, SNAP Minnesota director 952 471 3422
Rita J. Prince of Pahrump, NV (sister of the alleged victim) 619-368 5637 cell
Terri Ryan of Bremerton, WA (sister of the alleged victim) 360 620 5820 cell

Man was abused at Catholic abbey & committed suicide, his sisters announce

They hold St. Paul news conference; alleged predator is publicly accused for first time

St. John's officials verbally admitted the abuse & pledged therapy to family, women say

Their dad's letter, reporting the crimes, is in abbey files, church officials tell the

Group wants Archbishop Flynn to 'stop hair-splitting & start disclosing"

WHAT
After a sidewalk news conference, clergy child molestation victims & their family members will try to hand deliver a
letter to St. Paul-Minneapolis's Archbishop Harry Flynn urging him to

--- disclose yet another abusive cleric from a central Minnesota Catholic abbey,
--- stop evading responsibility for religious order predators,
--- start reaching out aggressively to this cleric's victims and other victims, and
--- push abbey officials to, once and for all, make public ALL the names of accused molesters

WHEN
Monday, Sept. 25, 2:30 p.m.

WHO
Sisters from California and Nevada whose brother took his own life after being sexually assaulted and several clergy
molestation victims who belong to a support group SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
(SNAPnetwork.org)

WHERE.
Outside the Catholic archdiocese headquarters (chancery office), 226 Summit Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102

WHY
Two sisters of Patrick Michael Ryan (born 10/17/51) say that he hanged himself in 1971 after having been drugged and
raped by a St. John's teacher during his sophomore year. Years later, in a conversation with Abbey staff member
Maxine Barnett, one of the sisters was told that the perpetrator was Fr. Paul GoPaul of Trinidad, who is also deceased
and has not been publicly accused of child abuse before. The victim's family members were offered therapy by the
Abbey.

The sisters are coming forward now because Abbey officials are failing to honor promises to be open about sexual
abuse by their staff and because they want others hurt by GoPaul to know they aren't alone. SNAP wants Archbishop
Flynn, as Minnesota's top Catholic official and former head of the US bishops sex abuse panel, to reach out to those
hurt by current and former Abbey staff and prod the Abbey to disclose more.

For the past few months, controversy has surrounded the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese and St. John's Abbey in
Collegeville. Both have kept the names of credibly accused child-molesting clerics secret for years and have
essentially refused to aggressively contact others who may have been assaulted by the abusive clergymen.

In late July, under external pressure, St. John's disclosed that three monks there have been credibly accused of child
sexual abuse. Two of them, Rev. Michael Bik & Rev. Bruce Wollmering, allegedly live under the supervision of their
fellow clerics in Collegeville. The third, Rev. Robert Blumeyer, is now deceased.

Despite being accused of child molestation in 1997, Bik kept teaching at St. John's prep school until 2002. Wollmering
was accused of sexual harassment in 2004. Blumeyer was accused of sexual abuse almost a year ago. Although
deemed "credible," all of the allegations were kept secret, however, until recently, which "selfishly and callously puts
innocent kids at risk of horrific sex crimes," SNAP says.

SNAP has written the head of the abbey, Abbot John Klassen, urging him to give all records about sex offenders at
the facility to law enforcement immediately and to report all future accusations immediately, not years later. They
have also urged abbey staff to "aggressively reach out" to others who witnessed, suspected or experienced sex
crimes by the monks.

SNAP calls the abbey's recent announcement of the credible allegations "begrudging, belated and inexplicably
reckless."

A similar news conference is being held outside the Abbey in Collegeville this morning at 10:30 a.m.

http://www.startribune.com/614/story/679312.html

CONTACT
David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP national director 314 566 9790 cell
Bob Schwiderski of Wayzata. SNAP Minnesota director 952 471 3422
Rita J. Prince of Pahrump, NV (sister of the alleged victim) 619 368 5637 cell
Terri Ryan of Bremerton,WA (sister of the alleged victim) 360 620 5820

September 25, 2006

Dear Archbishop Flynn:

Founded in 1989, SNAP is a 7000+ member support group for women and men who have been wounded by sexually
abusive priests, nuns, seminarians and bishops. We are the largest and oldest such self-help group dedicated to
healing the wounded and protecting the vulnerable.

We are deeply concerned about your inexplicably reckless “hands off” approach to child sex abuse allegations and
admissions involving St. John’s Abbey.

Several weeks ago, abbey officials belatedly disclosed that they had received credible sexual abuse allegations
against Rev. Robert Blumeyer, Rev. Michael Bik and Rev. Bruce Wollmering (a disclosure that only happened
because a newspaper was about to publish their names as accused molesters). At that time, in a letter to abbey
officials, we said “For years, you and your colleagues have kept silent about credible allegations of horrific sex
crimes and misconduct by these men. By keeping these secrets, you have needlessly, selfishly, and callously putting
other innocent kids and vulnerable teenagers at tremendous risk of severe, lifelong harm.”

Now, we have learned of yet another Collegeville staff member, Fr. Paul GoPaul, who has sexually abused children,
and whose identity Catholic officials have again kept secret.

We are asking Abbey officials today: “How many others are there? When will you truly ‘come clean,’ do what’s right,
tell the truth, and protect the vulnerable?”

We ask you a similar question: “When will you step up to the plate and do your part to help warn parents about these
predators and reach out to their victims?”

Your initial temptation, we suspect, will be to engage in the same, old, tired, legalistic hairsplitting that so many
bishops have done for so long. ‘He never worked in our archdiocese,’ ‘He’s a religious order priest,’ ‘He’s deceased
now’ – the possible excuses for inaction are many. But fundamentally, they are just that: excuses. Minnesota victims
and Catholics cry out for real leadership, not clever dodges, when it comes to clergy sex abuse. We beg you to follow
Jesus’ example, and work harder to reach out to the lost and wounded sheep who have been sexually assaulted by
Catholic clergy in Minnesota.

In case you’re not familiar with the case, here are the particulars.

In the early 1970s, Fr. GoPaul drugged and raped young Patrick Michael Ryan. As dozens of clergy sexual abuse
victims have done, Patrick was overwhelmed by the pain and later hanged himself.

In a subsequent phone conversation with abbey staff member Maxine Barnett, one of Patrick’s sisters was told that
the perpetrator was Fr. Paul GoPaul of Trinidad, who is also deceased and has not been publicly accused of child
abuse before. The victim’s family members were offered therapy by the Abbey. Again, however, no public disclosure
was ever made.

The sisters are coming forward now because Abbey officials are failing to honor promises to be open about sexual
abuse by their staff and because they want others hurt by GoPaul to know they aren’t alone. We honor them for their
courage. We wish you would show similar courage, however.

Like St. John’s leadership, you too have kept the names of credibly accused child-molesting clerics secret for years
and have essentially refused to aggressively reach out to others who may have been assaulted by the abusive
clergymen. Recent events show that such secrecy isn’t limited to the past, but continues even now.

In previous news accounts, it has become clear that
-- for at least eight years, church officials apparently kept the accusations against Bik secret,
-- for at least two years, church officials apparently kept the accusations against Wollmering secret, and
-- for at least ten months, church officials apparently kept the accusations against Blumeyer secret.

How do you explain the dangerous, years-long delays in disclosing the names of child predators? Don't you see that
such secrecy needlessly puts innocent youngsters at risk?

In light of these disturbing facts, we strongly urge you to:
- give all information about all clergy sex offenders () to law enforcement immediately,
- pledge to promptly disclose all future credible accusations immediately, not years later,
- use every means possible to aggressively reach out to other who have been hurt or may have been hurt by current
and former clerics and employees, and urge them to come forward, get help and call the police.
- use every means possible to aggressively reach out to other who have witnessed or suspected crimes and
misconduct by current and former clerics to call the police, and
- publicly prod St. John’s officials to do the same.

Today, we will again publicly urge parents to ask their kids if they were hurt by a Catholic cleric. We will prod victims
to find the courage and strength to speak up. We will encourage those who witnessed or suspected crimes by Bik,
Wollmering, Blumeyer and GoPaul to call law enforcement.

We lack the finances and resources to do the kind of thorough and effective outreach of which you are capable.
Nevertheless, we will do our best, as we have for years, to prod those in pain to get help and those with information
to call the police.

You have hundreds of employees, a web site, a weekly newspaper and dozens of parish bulletins. We beg you to use
these vehicles to spread the word about these four recently disclosed predators in particular, and to prod witnesses
and victims to speak up.

If you need some help, we’ll gladly do what we can to help.

You are the highest ranking Catholic official in Minnesota. For years, you headed the US bishops conference
committee on sexual abuse. Your tenure on that panel included many years of intense secrecy, and several years
after bishops pledged greater openness about clergy sex crimes and cover ups.

You know that St. John’s clerics have visited and worked throughout the state, whether giving talks or saying masses
or just ‘passing through.’ You know that history has shown and the odds are high that they molested Catholic kids in
your archdiocese, and other dioceses across Minnesota.

We hope you’ll do what’s right. We hope to hear from you soon.

Bob Schwiderski, Minnesota Director, SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
1850 Shadywood Road, Wayzata, MN 55391
952 471 3422

David Clohessy, National Director, SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
7234 Arsenal Street, St. Louis MO 63143
314 566 9790 cell, 314 645 5915

Barbara Dorris, Outreach Coordinator, SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
6245 Westminster, St. Louis MO 63130
314 862 7688