Community Corner

Former Maplewood Pastor, Oakdale Resident Named as Abusive Priests by Archdiocese

Two local men, one who resides in Oakdale, have been named by the Catholic church as "credibly accused."

with Chris Steller, James Warden

A priest assigned to northeast Twin Cities churches and now resides in Oakdale appears on the newly released list of clergy deemed "credibly accused" of child sexual abuse by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. 

The archdiocese published a list of 34 priests Thursday in the online edition of The Catholic Spirit, the newspaper that serves the archdiocese.

Find out what's happening in Oakdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

About half of the parishes in the archdiocese—92 out of 188 parishes—had one of the priests on the list there at some point, according to the archdiocese.

Many of those listed had associations with parishes on the east side of the Twin Cities metro area, with one (see below) having served in Lake Elmo in 1984. 

Find out what's happening in Oakdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The publication was made in response to ongoing lawsuits against priests and the church arising from childhood sexual abuse cases. The achdiocese and Diocese of Winona originally sought to seal the list—which was created in 2004 and included 33 of the 34 priests named today, according to the Star Tribune.

The courts agreed to seal the list in 2009. But Archbishop John Nienstedt reversed course after the church was accused of shielding priests—allegations that gained extra fuel in recent months from a Minnesota Public Radio investigation.

The information being released comes mostly from reported incidents that occurred between the mid-1950s and 1980s, according to The Catholic Spirit.

“All have been permanently removed from ministry or are deceased,” the article said.

A second Maplewood priest, Fr. John Brown, also is named. Brown, 93, was removed from ministry in 2002, as the scandal began to unravel. 

The church says it is engaged in a comprehensive review of clergy files and will update the list as it makes additional announcements.

A look at the two men 

Timothy McCarthy 

  • Date of birth: 6/26/1946 (Age 67)
  • Date of ordination: 1973
  • Cleric’s prior assignments in archdiocese: Associate priest, St. Leo, St. Paul, 1973-1974; Associate priest, All Saints, Lakeville, 1974-1977; Administrator, St. Andrew, Elysian, 1977-1982; Associate priest, St. Peter Claver, St. Paul, 1982-1984; On special assignment, 1982-1984; Associate priest, Guardian Angels, Lake Elmo, 1984; Associate priest, St. Joseph, Lino Lakes, 1984-1986; Pastor, Holy Redeemer, Maplewood, 1986-1991; Resigned, 1991
  • Diocese or religious order: Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
  • Date permanently removed from ministry: 1991
  • Current location: Believed to be residing in Oakdale, Minn., or St. Paul, Minn.
  • Current status: Permanently removed from ministry
John Brown
  • Date of birth: 7/2/1920 (Age: 93)
  • Date of ordination: 1948
  • Associate priest, St. Timothy, Maple Lake, 1948-1949;
  • Associate priest, Sacred Heart, Robbinsdale, 1949-1950;
  • Associate priest, St. John, St. Paul, 1950-1951;
  • Associate priest, Hopkins, 1951-1956;
  • Chaplain, U.S. Army, 1956-1958;
  • Associate priest, St. Mary, LeCenter, 1958-1960;
  • Temporary administrator, St. Mary, LeCenter, 1960;
  • Administrator, St. Mary, Waverly, 1960-1963;
  • Pastor, St. Mary, Waverly, 1963-1964;
  • Pastor, St. Anthony of Padua, Minneapolis, 1964-1966;
  • Pastor, Immaculate Conception, Marysburg, 1966-1970;
  • Pastor, Sacred Heart, Faribault, 1970-1978;
  • Pastor, St. Peter Claver, St. Paul, 1978-1981;
  • Pastor, Annunciation, Hazelwood, 1981-1990
  • Permanently removed from ministry: 2002


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Oakdale