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2 August 2014

Regarding the Funeral


of David Jaeger at St. Joseph

To the Members of St. Joseph Parish


Dear Friends, Peace of Christ!
This week, the funeral of David Jaeger was held at St. Joseph. As many of you may know, Jaeger
was a former priest of the Archdiocese of Seattle who was removed from ministry and voluntarily
laicized after it came forward that he had sexually abused several young boys during his time in
ministry. Following his departure from ministry, Jaeger worked at the Helpline Call Center of St.
Vincent de Paul, until 2012. He spent the last years of his life at Gaffney House where he died of
complications arising from Altzheimers disease.
Why then, some have asked, was his funeral held here at St. Joseph?
St. Joseph was asked to allow Davids funeral to be celebrated here shortly after his death. Though
he often worshipped at the Chapel of St. Ignatius, it was felt that the chapel was too small for the
expected number of people who would attend, and St. Joseph were sought as a companion Jesuit
community. After consulting with others, and being reminded, that David did a great deal of
ministry for people with AIDS through St. Joseph, in the early days of that crisis, I determined to
welcome those planning the funeral. Despite the sins of the deceased, as Christians we have a
duty to bury the deadit is an act of compassion for those who mourn and corporal work of
mercy called forth by our faith. For this reason, I gave permission for the funeral of David Jaeger
to be celebrated at St. Joseph.
That being said, I must admit that I misunderstood, at the time I gave permission, that the
intention was to use St. Joseph for both a vigil and a funeral. I believed it was to be simply a
funeral mass, and only learned of my misunderstanding when I returned from a trip to Wisconsin.
In hindsight, perhaps I should have asked that the vigil be moved elsewhere, but I determined it
was already in the works and I had, if unintentionally, committed to it.
As for the funeral itself, I remain convinced that it was a corporal work of mercy demanded of our
faith. The burial of the dead is what we do. And everyone for whom we do it is a sinner; and the
greater the sin, the more we should pray that he or she will be taken into the arms of a merciful
God, just as we hope others will pray for us sinners when our final judgment arrives.
At the same time, knowing the pain that this funeral might cause for those who had been abused
by Dave Jaeger and those wounded by the crisis in the Church, I asked that no photographs be
used of him in clerical garb and that he be buried without any clerical honors. Thus, I was
dismayed by the ordination photograph used in the obituary; yet, I was assured that was the

mistake of a single person and would not be repeated in the service. While not entirely true
(some such photos appeared in a collage in the vestibule), I believe the organizers tried to respect
these guidelines, insofar as they were able. The funeral was planned by a complex group
involving Davids family and friends, and I relied on their wisdom and sensitivity. Neither St.
Joseph nor I had a role in the planning of the liturgy. We did nothing to advertise or promote the
event. It was not in the bulletin, announcements, or even the prayers.
In hindsight, I believe I made two mistakes regarding these events, for which I apologize to the St.
Joseph community and to those who may have been offended: first, by allowing the vigil to be on
site it gave the entire event a prominence that could be misunderstood as disregard for the abuse
in which Jaeger engaged; and second, by not more directly and authoritatively overseeing the
planning I perhaps allowed certain excesses to occurthough I saw few, honestly, that were not
from people other than the planners. While I set certain ground-rules, and believe they were
largely adhered to, maybe I could have done more.
At the same time, were the situation to arise again, I would still allow this funeral to happen at St.
Joseph. Though some have held that it should have been held elsewhere, I think that gets places
us into the not in my backyard mentality, which runs counter to our faith and our identity. If
Dave Jaeger deserved a funeralas I believe he didwe do not pass it off so that we might not
be tarnished. We are the Church and share in the burdens the Church carries.
Likewise, for those who maintain it should have been a smaller, more private liturgy: even if I
were to agree, it is not my place to tell others who can and cannot come to the funeral of their
loved one.
It was a difficult situation, and one that confounds me even now. I recognize that there continues
to be much denial about the reality of abuse in all segments of the Churchliberal, conservative,
the bishops, and the people in the pews. The complexity of human sin and human goodness
makes it a challenge to see how both exist so starkly in one person. When we look for simple
answers, we either reduce someone to their sin, or try to whitewash that sin or ignore the damage
that it causes (and thus compound the hurt for the victims). It is an impossible dichotomy for us to
navigate, yet God somehow holds both shores. Perhaps, if we all become more humble, we may
yet find reconciliation in the Church: reconciliation that does not drive away survivors of abuse,
but that also leads perpetrators to genuine repentance.
I am sorry for confusion or hurt caused by my decisions. May we all grow in the wisdom of God,
and together come to know Gods will and live it faithfully.
Yours in the Lord,

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