MINNESOTA
National Catholic Reporter
Brian Roewe | Oct. 21, 2013
“Be loving critics and critical lovers of the institutional church.”
Jennifer Haselberger first heard that phrase while she was an undergraduate student at the College of St. Catherine (now St. Catherine University) in St. Paul, Minn. When she returned home in 2008 to take the position of chancellor of canonical affairs for the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese, the phrase returned with her. Responsible for its records and archives, she discovered unreported allegations of clergy sex abuse and lapses in investigations.
Ultimately, Haselberger, 38, resigned her position in April, saying that she found it impossible to continue in her position knowing such gaffes existed and that her efforts to rectify them had proved futile. So, she alerted law officials and local media.
The news reports that followed led Archbishop John Nienstedt in early October to commission an independent lay review of the archdiocese’s handling of sexual abuse allegations. Its six members — three men and three women appointed by a newly named vicar for ministerial standards, Dominican Fr. Reginald Whitt — include a retired police officer with background in online sex crimes involving minors, a law professor, a human resources director with a background investigating sexual exploitation of refugees in Africa, and a psychologist who serves as president of the state’s sexual abusers treatment association.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.