MINNESOTA
The Northwestern
As much as leaders of the Catholic Church say they are doing everything possible to confront and combat clergy sex abuse, developments like those rocking the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis speak with much more force.
And sadly they deliver a familiar message: Top church leaders continue to fail to learn from the past, and the result is potentially dangerous priests are unknown to the public.
Witness MPR’s reports the past few weeks about Twin Cities Roman Catholic Church leaders being under fire for the handling of two priests. In both cases, the archdiocese’s own documentation shows leaders did not adequately protect the public and contact law enforcement.
The most troubling involves the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, who pleaded guilty in 2012 to sexually abusing two brothers, ages 12 and 14, and possessing child pornography. At the time the archdiocese proclaimed it had done exactly what it was supposed to do — immediately contact law enforcement when such allegations arose. Prosecuting attorneys even praised those efforts.
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