Catholic Priests Say Charging Them With Sexual Abuse Violates Their Religious Freedom

Friendly Atheist ★ Two Minnesota cases expose how clergy power dynamics—and victim-blaming tactics—are colliding with secular law.

Last year, a Catholic priest from the St. Cloud Diocese in Minnesota was charged with “sexually abusing, physically assaulting and threatening a woman to whom he had given spiritual guidance.” A woman said Father Joseph Herzing had counseled her over a period of several years beginning in 2018, and that relationship soon turned sexual… and violent.

Setting aside the horrific details of the allegations, Herzing was a priest. He was supposed to be celibate. He was in a position of power over a woman he was guiding. Even if everything had been consensual—and the allegations said they were not—it would have been unethical and potentially criminal.

Last year, a different Catholic priest from the St. Cloud Diocese in Minnesota was also charged with sexually abusing a woman. A woman accused Father Aaron Kuhn of assaulting her repeatedly over the course of three years when he was providing her with spiritual advice.

According to the complaint, the victim told police that Kuhn used his role as a spiritual advisor to manipulate her and pressure her into sex.

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