Media Mentions

By Jennifer Haselberger
Canonical Consultation
October 03, 2015

http://canonicalconsultation.com/blog.html

In 2013 or 2014, the Communications Office of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis instituted the practice of sending clergy and other 'stakeholders' weekly emails listing media coverage about the Archdiocese and specifically about the local abuse crisis. The intent was to keep clergy informed of the coverage so that they were not blindsided by parishioners or members of the media. Now, it would appear that the weekly emails have become more self-serving, as the example below indicates.

In the interests of 'transparency', let me mention three things that ought to have appeared in this week's mentions, but did not.

1). The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis appeared in bankruptcy court again this past week, and requested, but did not receive, permission for additional expenditures. The story was covered by MPR, which reported that bankruptcy costs have now exceeded $3.6 million.

2). The week prior, the Archdiocese, represented by Joe Dixon, appeared in Ramsey County Court in response to the criminal charges and civil petition filed by the Ramsey County Attorney's Office. This was not covered by the media, in part because it was widely believed that the next court date was scheduled for the end of October.

3). With the announcement by Saint Catherine University that Sr. Andrea Lee would be stepping down as president we learned of one of the most significant legacies of the John Nienstedt-era in the Twin Cities: the Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis no longer has an ex officio seat on the Board of Trustees of either Catholic university in this Archdiocese (St. Kate's or the University of Saint Thomas).

Read below for the news the Archdiocese finds significant.

with pdf: