a firm foundation’

Tim O’Malley, a lifelong Catholic, said he feels his most important accomplishment as head of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment was partnering with individuals and organizations “to put in place a practical safe environment approach that should withstand the test of time, so that kids are safer for generations to come.”

A second accomplishment worth noting is “justly holding abusive priests to account while also proving the innocence of erroneously or falsely accused priests,” O’Malley said.

The most rewarding part of his job was “working with Archbishop (Bernard) Hebda, senior staff and the finest collection of investigators and support staff I have ever been associated with” and developing “the relationships and, in many cases, the deep friendships that have been forged with victims-survivors.”

“The faith journey with the archdiocese has been extraordinarily meaningful, fulfilling and rewarding,” O’Malley said.

— Joe Ruff

environment practices.

Then O’Malley was hired, and he “had a head for structures of organizations and a heart for team building,” Father Lachowitzer said.

That team included Michael Campion, a former superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and Janell Rasmussen, a former BCA program administrator who coordinated the state’s AMBER Alert program. Investigators included Neil Nelson, a retired St. Paul Police Department commander who through a federal grant led statewide efforts to battle internet crimes against children.

The imposing team brought questions among clergy and others in the archdiocese, said Father Tix, now vicar general but at the time pastor of St. John the Baptist in Savage and executive director of the Presbyteral Council.

“There was skepticism on the part of clergy and the feeling that the diocese was being run by law enforcement, whether police officers or lawyers, which in hindsight was necessary for the institutional change that was needed,” Father Tix said. “Everyone was shaken by the crisis, and unsure how the archdiocese would regain a position of moving forward, especially our clergy. Tim was a key figure to collaborate with others including lay leadership in helping our local Church to learn from our past ways to better serve in the future.”

“Tim came to be quickly respected by our clergy as someone who was fair and seeking only the truth in a particular situation,” Father Tix said.

Patty Wetterling, an advocate for child protection since her son, Jacob, was abducted in 1989 in St. Joseph, joined the MRB in 2016 and served for five years. She said O’Malley worked on her son’s case as an agent with the BCA and was this “compassionate law enforcement officer. He led with such integrity and compassion. When he invited me to join the (board) it was so easy to say yes. He surrounds himself with people of competence and integrity.”

Now, O’Malley’s efforts are known across the country, Wetterling said. “I know it’s a model. It’s a model not only for the Church, but for the problem our culture has” with child abuse, she said. “It’s getting people help and in positions where it won’t happen again.”

Victims-survivors of clergy sexual abuse — including Jim Richter, who sits on the MRB, and Frank Meuers, the southwest Minnesota chapter director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, since 2012 — said they worked closely with O’Malley and respect him. For a time, Meuers, who pressured the archdiocese to take more action and helped in a fight that successfully suspended the state statute of limitations in cases of sexual abuse, met once a month with O’Malley, a relationship Meuers once said to his knowledge was unlike any other that a SNAP leader had with a Church official.

“We weren’t quite sure where we were going. That’s OK, then we never failed to meet our goal,” Meuers said with some humor of finding innovative ways to help victims-survivors and protect the vulnerable from abuse.

Victims’ voices were heard, and steps were taken, including strengthening the 12-member MRB with people who have a wide range of professional experience, Meuers said. O’Malley “whipped an organization into shape” by hiring people with law enforcement backgrounds like Campion and Rasmussen, he said.

“He was able to bring in good people, and that’s what you want,” Meuers said. As to the future, Meuers said, “I think the thing is functioning very well compared to what it was.”

Richter said he had been through some measure of healing of his own when he contacted O’Malley in the early days of the archdiocese’s crisis, offering to help in whatever way he could. They met for breakfast.

“I remember meeting a guy who wanted to know what was possible, what could be done in the circumstances of the moment,” Richter said of O’Malley. “There were lawsuits, hundreds of complainants and a void of meeting people’s needs. Tim wanted to gain some understanding and not make a bad situation worse.”

Richter joined the MRB in 2016. He moved a year ago to a town near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and now takes part virtually or commutes into the Twin

Cities for MRB meetings. Richter said he feels listened to, valued and empowered as board members discuss complaints that can include such issues as financial misdeeds, personal improprieties and potential abuse. He admires what O’Malley has done and trusts that Iovino will continue the good work that preceded him.

“There’s something dynamic about him. He is open to change, adaptable, looking to others,” Richter said. “Tim O’Malley is a shining example of the right person who was in the right place, doing the right thing, at the right time.”

Kevin Conneely, an attorney and member of Annunciation in Minneapolis, chaired the MRB in 2013, when thousands of clergy files were examined and cases were presented to the board, then called the Ministerial Standards Board. The board was given great responsibility as it made recommendations to the archbishop, he said. “It really was a high-powered thing. It was humbling to be part of it,” he said. “Tim brought a rigor to what we were doing, and led by his own example of digging in, being fair, but getting to the bottom of things. He respected everyone involved in the process. He didn’t come with an agenda in any direction.”

Some people in the archdiocese might have thought the effort was window dressing, Conneely said. But that was not the case. “These were very serious, professional people,” he said. “They weren’t going to sit around being a front for other people, or a rubber stamp for the archbishop. No.”

Safe environment efforts going forward are on solid footing, Conneely said, adding, “It’s built on a firm foundation.”

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