ABUSE TRACKER

MAINE
Bangor Daily News

By Seth Koenig, BDN Staff
Posted Dec. 18, 2013

PORTLAND, Maine — The newly appointed bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland is credited with playing a key role as the Vatican purged priests accused of sexual abuse, and then as the Archdiocese of Boston took the step of identifying abusive priests openly on its website.

Both were considered significant moves in the effort to overcome sex abuse scandals that came to light over the last decade and a half and tarnished the Catholic Church’s reputation.

Now, as Catholics and others in the state react to Wednesday’s announcement of new Diocese of Portland Bishop Robert Deeley’s appointment, some of the strongest statements come from Maine clergy abuse victims and their supporters, who hope Deeley will continue his reconciliation work locally.

In 2011, after seven years away, Deeley rejoined the Archdiocese of Boston and served as one of the top aides to Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who that year opened the vault on the archdiocese’s sex abuse cases by posting a database of priests who had been accused, as well as what became of them.

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.

NEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, NM, Dec. 18, 2013

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent
religion@gallupindependent.com

ALBUQUERQUE — The Diocese of Gallup filed for Chapter 11 reorganization just over a month ago, but already a number of significant events have taken place.

The following is a summary of some of the case’s more important developments and issues:

Higher abuse numbers

During the first court hearing Nov. 15, the diocese’s lead bankruptcy attorney Susan Boswell said the Gallup Diocese was aware of 105 men and women who were alleged victims of clergy sex abuse in the diocese. In less than two weeks, Bishop James S. Wall submitted a document to the court revising that number upward to 121. In an upcoming court hearing Thursday, that figure may once again rise.

Creditors committee formed

Seven individuals were selected to serve as members of the unsecured creditors committee Tuesday. Because they are all believed to be victims of clergy sex abuse, their names are not being published without their consent. One member, Criss Candelaria, was contacted Tuesday and consented to being publicly identified. An attorney in private practice in Pinetop, Ariz., Candelaria is a former Apache County Attorney and a longtime Arizona prosecutor. He has previously spoken out about being targeted for sexual abuse as a child by the Rev. James M. Burns. Along with Candelaria, the committee is made up of five men, four of whom are Hispanic, and two women. It is believed at least one committee member is Navajo.

Steep fees

In an attempt to keep administrative expenses and professional fees “as low as reasonably possible,” the Office of the U.S. Trustee, a Department of Justice program that monitors bankruptcy cases, has submitted “limited objections” to the applications authorizing the employment of three law firms and one accounting firm to represent the Gallup Diocese. Those firms, however, are already collecting steep fees. The diocese paid Quarles & Brady LLP $200,000 on Nov. 8, it paid Walker & Associates, P.C. more than $22,000 on Oct. 29, and it paid Keegan, Linscott & Kenon, P.C. $75,000 on Nov. 8. Lead attorney Boswell is billing the diocese $375 per hour for the first 125 hours of representation. After 125 hours, her fee will increase to $495 per hour.

Separate or subsidized

The Chapter 11 reorganization only involves the Diocese of Gallup’s chancery office, which includes Gallup’s Sacred Heart Retreat Center, and Gallup Catholic School, aka Sacred Heart Catholic School. In early bankruptcy documents, the Gallup bishop presented a picture of parish priests not being employees of the diocese and parish churches along with their assets as being separate from the diocese. Catholic schools in the diocese were also presented as being separate from the diocese. However, Wall’s more recent financial statement lists 11 parishes receiving salary subsidies from the diocese, two parishes receiving financial assistance from the diocese, and five parishes that are owed priest subsidy payments. In addition, Chancery officials advertise and approve the hiring of school principals and those principals answer to a diocesan education superintendent.

Trust property

According to the Gallup Diocese, much of its real estate is “trust property” in which the diocese “holds mere legal title” but which is actually owned and controlled by parishes. Some parishes only have one piece of property the land the church occupies, while others have as many as ten pieces of property. St. John the Baptist Parish, located in St. Johns, Ariz., owns the G-Bar Ranch, which was the subject of a civil lawsuit in recent years, and Gallup’s Sacred Heart Parish which is the bishop’s cathedral is listed as owning commercial property where one of Gallup’s Lowes grocery stores is located.

Real property

The Gallup Diocese lists 85 pieces of property across Arizona and New Mexico as “real property,” which is defined as “any property in which the debtor holds rights and powers exercisable for the debtor’s own benefit.” The list includes vacant land, houses and mobile homes, office and school buildings, cemeteries, and subdivision property. Some is located outside the diocese, as in the city of Rio Rancho. All the property is listed as having an “unknown” value. Based on documents provided by the diocese, it is unclear of the listing for the bishop’s home, his nearby “Cure of Ars House of Discernment,” and his private chapel, which he renovated and decorated with artist Arlene Sena’s Spanish colonial-styled paintings.

Third party liability

In its financial documents, the diocese states it “may have claims against certain third parties who are or have been co-defendants in certain litigation alleging abuse claims against the Diocese of Gallup or who have not been named in such suits but may still be liable to the Diocese of Gallup …” Regarding allegations against diocesan priests who came from other dioceses or members of religious orders who are credibly accused of sexual abuse in the Gallup Diocese, their home diocese or religious order may be financially drawn into the bankruptcy case.

Multiple creditors

A list of creditors holding secured claims shows diocesan officials owe nearly $113,000 to Pinnacle Bank for a $200,000 promissory note signed in June 2011, and another list of creditors holding unsecured nonpriority claims shows diocesan officials owe the Archdiocese of Santa Fe for a $29,000 loan and the Diocese of Phoenix for a $200,000 loan. The Gallup Diocese also owes more than $15,000 to Saint Luke Institute in Maryland and $35,000 to the Guest House in Michigan both mental health treatment facilities for Catholic clergy. Among its many debts, the diocese continues to owe unpaid legal fees to law firms in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Gallup, and even owes $6,600 to its own fundraising organization, the Catholic Peoples Foundation.

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.

MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – With St. Paul police investigating Archbishop John Nienstedt, who’s accused of inappropriately touching a boy’s behind, the Catholic League wants to independently identify his accuser.

It’s the first time the religious and civil rights organization has sought to identify an alleged victim, asking Twin Cities-area Catholics for any videotapes or photos from the 2009 event, where it’s alleged Nienstedt touched the boy’s buttocks after a confirmation ceremony.

“Somebody knows who this character is who is making these accusations — I can’t wait to get to the bottom of this,” said Catholic League President Bill Donahue. “Nienstedt has been the subject of a non-stop crusade orchestrated by enemies of the Catholic Church. The time has come when people need to fight back.”

Donahue also took aim at St. Paul police investigators, accusing them of pursuing an agenda while investigating clergy members and archdiocesan leadership.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 12/18/2013

A Maplewood priest appeared in court for the first time Wednesday on a charge of criminal sexual conduct involving a woman in his parish.

Wearing a black suit and a clerical collar, the Rev. Mark Huberty waived his right to have an omnibus hearing within 30 days. That hearing, in which the judge will determine if there’s probable cause to try him, was scheduled for Jan. 28.

Huberty, 43, has not been held in custody. He is released on his own recognizance.

Therese Galatowitsch, a special assistant Ramsey County attorney prosecuting Huberty, said the state will have “voluminous discovery” in the case. It will share that with the defense, as required, she said.

Huberty is on leave from his position as pastor of Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary at 1695 Kennard St.

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MICHIGAN
UPI

MARQUETTE, Mich., Dec. 18 (UPI) — The newly appointed bishop of Marquette, Mich., destroyed documents relating to priests accused of sexual abuse in 2011, a victims’ advocacy group said.
The Rev. John Doefler, 49, vicar general of the Green Bay, Wis., diocese, is set to be installed as Marquette bishop early next year, after he was named to the position Tuesday by Pope Francis.

The advocacy group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests was critical of the appointment, saying he destroyed what may have been criminal evidence, including psychological reports of priests accused of sexually assaulting minors.

“We find this decision really perplexing,” said the organization’s Midwest Director, Peter Isely. “Doefler destroyed virtually all of the abuse records in Green Bay.”

Doefler testified, in a 2011 deposition in a lawsuit involving convicted pedophile John Patrick Feeney, that he destroyed the material as part of a record retention policy already in place, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

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MINNESOTA
Fox 9

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) –
St. Paul police were meeting with lawyers for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Wednesday, but the meeting was not open the public or members of the media.

Archbishop John Nienstedt has voluntarily stepped aside from all public ministry during the investigation of an allegation that he inappropriately touched a boy on the buttocks during a 2009 confirmation ceremony.

Nienstedt called the allegation “absolutely and entirely false,”and the archdiocese said they “stand ready to cooperate fully with the St. Paul police.”

But during a Tuesday press conference, St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith aired his frustrations with claims made by the archdiocese that church officials have been fully cooperative.

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.

MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

[with audio]

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi reaffirmed his determination Wednesday not to convene a grand jury while police are still investigating allegations of child abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“I have to make some tough calls, and I believe in a certain way to get to a conclusion,” he said on The Daily Circuit. “An investigative grand jury at this moment, when there’s an active police investigation going on, would be really inappropriate and an abuse of my power.

“Let’s let the police investigation come to some completion, and then they can present information to us, and we can make appropriate decisions based upon that.”

Choi praised St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith for going public Tuesday with his complaints about the archdiocese’s lack of cooperation in the police probe. Smith said his investigators had been denied access to people they want to interview, except through their lawyers.

Choi said he hoped Smith’s press conference would produce results.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Brian Lambert

Not yet, anyway. MPR says: “Ramsey County Attorney John Choi reaffirmed his determination Wednesday not to convene a grand jury while police are still investigating allegations of child abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. ‘I have to make some tough calls, and I believe in a certain way to get to a conclusion,’ he said on The Daily Circuit. ‘An investigative grand jury at this moment, when there’s an active police investigation going on, would be really inappropriate and an abuse of my power. Let’s let the police investigation come to some completion, and then they can present information to us, and we can make appropriate decisions based upon that.’ ”

An editorial in the Marshall Independent goes fairly easy on the archbishop: “We credit Archbishop John Nienstedt for his frankness when commenting publically Sunday on the allegations of sexual abuse by priests in Minnesota, but we’re not surprised if what he said fell on a lot of deaf ears across the state. … Nienstedt didn’t make excuses, apologized for overlooking the issue and admitted he should have investigated it ‘a lot more than I did.’ We respect his candor and willingness to take responsibility, but that won’t wipe his slate clean. And saying he was ‘surprised as anyone else,’ surely didn’t help his cause, or the church’s. In a position of such great leadership, Nienstedt should’ve done his due diligence, regardless of what he was told. Had he, perhaps those blinders wouldn’t have been put on and he wouldn’t have been so ‘surprised.’ This issue is just too damaging, too sensitive and personal, for him to have assumed anything.”

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

With the announcement Tuesday that Archbishop John Nienstedt is stepping down while police investigate allegations that he touched a young man inappropriately, the sex-abuse scandal sweeping through the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis ratcheted to a new level, according to abuse survivors’ advocates and prosecutors.

Even as observers speculated whether Nienstedt would retain enough credibility to return to ministry if cleared of allegations he touched a boy during a public photo shoot, St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith blasted the archdiocese for failing to cooperate with its efforts to investigate other abuse allegations.

Smith shared a Dec. 4 letter to Nienstedt in which the chief complained that church leaders had repeatedly tried to speak to the church official responsible for investigating sex-abuse allegations. Without more information, police would have a hard time obtaining search warrants, the chief said.

Police refused to address the allegations against Nienstedt himself, though, saying only that adequate resources had been assigned to investigating the pending cases. Even the Archbishop’s most vocal critics cautioned that there’s nowhere near enough evidence to speculate about the claim. ,,,

‘They’re usually treated as different or special’

“Sometimes they hunker down, sometimes they resign,” said Terry McKiernan, president of Bishop-accountability.org, a watchdog group that has tracked the allegations for years. “But to treat them as a priest — that usually doesn’t happen. They’re usually treated as different or special.”

Complaints lodged against the vast majority of the bishops whose cases are cataloged by the group have not been conclusively resolved. In many, an internal church investigation failed to substantiate the claims, which are virtually always denied.

Two other things stand out as unusual for McKiernan. For starters, if the Vatican was not tracking the Twin Cities scandal before now — entirely possible given that there are some 4,000 bishops around the world — the new allegation is almost certainly under discussion in Rome, he said.

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ISRAEL
Jewish Daily Forward

JERUSALEM — Rabbi Mordechai “Motti” Elon, an Israeli Modern Orthodox leader, was sentenced to six months of community service for his conviction on two charges of sexually assaulting a minor.

Elon was sentenced Wednesday in Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for incidents that took place in 2003 and 2005. The student had come to Elon, the former rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem, for advice.

He was also sentenced to 15 months probation and must pay nearly $3,000 in compensation to the victim.

“I welcome my sentencing of community service – I’ve been doing such work for 40 years, and will be happy to continue till I’m 120 years old,” Elon said following the sentence.

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MINNESOTA
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on the decision by Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop John C. Nienstedt to temporarily step down:

Archbishop Nienstedt has been the subject of a non-stop crusade orchestrated by ex-Catholics, and Catholics in rebellion against the Church, simply because he stands for everything they are not: he is a loyal son of the Catholic Church.

Now—out of the blue—comes an unidentified male who claims he was touched on his buttocks in 2009 by the archbishop while posing for a group photo. Nienstedt denies the charge, adding that he has never inappropriately touched anyone. Moreover, he has not been told the identity of his accuser.

The Catholic League is asking those who were there to share with us any information they have. Specifically, we are interested in obtaining a tape recording, or set of photos, of any Confirmation ceremony in 2009 where Archbishop Nienstedt was present; presumably, the alleged victim was standing next to the archbishop. Also, we are asking anyone who knows anything about the accuser (someone knows who he is) to come forward. Please email us at pr@catholicleague.org.

I know of no other leader, religious or secular, who would step down pending an investigation because some guy says he was touched on his behind four years ago in a group photo. It’s time the bishops revised their “zero tolerance” policy. Too often, it means zero justice for the accused, thus undermining the legal principle of innocent until proven guilty.

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MINNESOTA
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

Kristine Ward

The early reports out of Minneapolis-St. Paul regarding the accusation against Archbishop John Nienstedt and his stepping aside carry two items we call to our readers’ attention.

From the official statement of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis:

The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis today announced that an allegation has been brought by a mandated reporter within the Church to the St. Paul Police of inappropriate touching of a minor male on the buttocks by Archbishop John Nienstedt. The single incident is alleged to have occurred in 2009 during a group photography session with the archbishop following a confirmation ceremony. Archbishop Nienstedt emphatically denies the allegation. Upon learning of the allegation last week, the archdiocese instructed the mandated reporter to make the matter known to the police. The archbishop and the archdiocese stand ready to cooperate fully with the St. Paul Police.

You read correctly — the “Archdiocese instructed the mandated reporter to make the matter known to police.”

This will be praised in many circles.

But it is clearly an indication that the understanding of what a mandatory reporter is is not understood. The mandatory reporter reported to the archdiocese and then to the police.

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MAINE
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013

David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )

The elevation of Boston’s Bishop Robert Deeley to head Maine’s Catholic archdiocese is yet another in a string of disappointing promotions made in recent months. (Others include new Hartford Bishop Leonard Blair, El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz, Bridgeport Bishop Frank Caggiano and Dubuque Archbishop Michael Jackels.)

Deeley admits working closely with then-Cardinal Josef Ratzinger at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees – and hides – clergy sex crimes from across the globe. We suspect Deeley knows of hundreds of credibly accused child molesting Catholic clerics and we doubt if he’s reported even one to law enforcement.

He was also a high ranking official in the Boston archdiocese which enjoys – unjustly, we feel – a reputation of being somewhat better than other dioceses regarding children’s safety. During Deeley’s time there, the archdiocese was found twice to be violating the US church abuse policy by refusing to provide sufficient abuse prevention training. This is a particularly egregious violation because the mandated abuse provision is one of the few worthwhile parts of the national policy.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday December 18, 2013

Statement by Bob Schwiderski, SNAP Minnesota director ( 952 471 3422, skibrs@q.com )

Enough is enough. Catholic officials should start defrocking Fr. Kevin McDonough. And Catholic parishioners should donate elsewhere until this happens.

Fr. McDonough knows more about clergy sex crimes and cover ups than anyone else in the archdiocese. His name and fingerprints are on many church records about concealing known and suspected crimes.

But the final straw came late yesterday when St. Paul’s police chief named Fr. McDonough as one of the archdiocesan clerics who refuse to be questioned by police.

[KAAL]

[Pioneer Press]

By this decision, Fr. McDonough has lost any shred of or claim to any moral authority he may have once had.

And by tolerating this, Archbishop Nienstedt and Bishop Piche – and every other chancery office staffer – are also besmirching themselves and the church they purport to love.

It’s absurd for them to claim that they “cannot speak for Fr. McDonough and his choice not to speak with the police.”

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON DECEMBER 18, 2013

Finally, finally, there’s a tiny, tiny ray of hope with this pope and the abuse/cover up crisis.

It’s not his signs of humility.

It’s not his compassionate words.

It’s not his touching gestures.

It’s his ever-so-slight snub of two dreadfully corrupt prelates – Cardinal Raymond Burke and Cardinal Justin Rigali.

Pope Francis hasn’t denounced, disciplined, demoted or defrocked either of them, though their incredibly irresponsible actions in dozens and dozens of predator priest cases certainly warrant such moves.

But the pontiff has declined to re-appoint them to the Congregation for Bishops, which helps select bishops throughout the world

That’s a tiny, tiny step in the right direction.

But the pope needs to punish – not just snub – those who are reckless in clergy sex cases, not just pompous in their own demeanor.

He needs to penalize those who are “outliers” in child protection, not “outliers” in clergy attire.

And he needs to do it publicly– so it may have a deterrent effect. That’s what’s long been missing – harsh, clear church-imposed consequences for those who put kids in harm’s way.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By The Associated Press
on December 18, 2013

Pennsylvania has its first new laws in the state Legislature’s wide-ranging response to the Jerry Sandusky and Roman Catholic clergy scandals.

Gov. Tom Corbett made the bills official during a Wednesday signing ceremony at the Pennsylvania Child Resource Center outside Harrisburg.

Lawmakers have approved a half-dozen bills that update nearly 20-year-old state laws on how cases of suspected child abuse are defined, investigated and punished.

About 20 bills are part of the legislative package.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Brian Lambert

You know the old adage about how if you find yourself in a hole, you should stop digging …? Following Tuesday’s news out of the archdiocese, Tom Scheck and Madeleine Baran at MPR write: “St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith said the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is not cooperating with an ongoing criminal investigation into clergy sexual abuse. … In a statement released after the news conference, archdiocese officials said they hope to better understand police requests for information at Wednesday’s meeting.”

The PiPress story, by Nick Woltman and Emily Gurnon, says: “A clearly frustrated St. Paul Police Chief Thomas Smith said Tuesday that investigators have not gotten cooperation from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on sexual abuse cases. ‘We have through written and verbal requests made clear our desire to speak to individuals connected with the archdiocese, and we’ve been told no,’ Smith told reporters at a news conference. At the same time, the archdiocese has made repeated statements that it is working to assist police on the abuse cases, Smith said. If that’s the case, ‘you need to have access to individuals that work within that institution,’ the chief said. … During Tuesday’s press briefing at police headquarters, Chief Smith named one archdiocesan official who had declined — through his attorney — to talk with police. That official is the Rev. Kevin McDonough, who served for years as vicar general, the archbishop’s top deputy, and was deeply involved in many of the archdiocese’s decisions about accused priests.”

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MINNESOTA
New Civil Rights Movement

by DAVID BADASH on DECEMBER 18, 2013

An accusation of inappropriate touching of a minor against one of America’s top Catholic Archbishops has opened the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota Archdiocese to national attention, and it’s not looking good.

Yesterday, Archbishop John Nienstedt voluntarily stepped aside as he was accused of inappropriately touching the buttocks of a young boy in 2009. He denies the charges.

Now, the nation is learning that there are other sex abuse investigations taking place by police of Nienstedt’s archdiocese — and they are being stalled by an uncooperative church.

“I want to let the public know one thing: let me be very clear on this,” St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith told reporters yesterday. “We have through written and verbal requests made clear our desire to speak to individuals connected to the archdiocese and we have been told no.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Michael Sean Winters | Dec. 18, 2013 Distinctly Catholic

The meltdown in the Archdiocese of St. Paul is tragic in the strict, Shakespearean sense of the word. In a Shakespeare tragedy, either circumstances conspire to ruin the protagonists (think “Romeo and Juliet”), or the character flaws of the protagonist bring about his ruin (think “Julius Caesar”). In this case, both the circumstances and the character flaws are operative and profoundly tragic.

Let me start by saying that nothing I write today should be understood as lending credence to the charge that Archbishop Nienstedt touched a young man inappropriately on the buttocks. The charge smells fishy to me and, besides, all are presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Nonetheless, false or not, the charge exposes the deeper and more consequential reasons why Archbishop Nienstedt must resign.

The bishops of the United States, as a body, now lack the credibility on the issue of clergy sex abuse that they have tried for eleven years to fashion for themselves. The lack of accountability for bishops who violate their own rules, set forth in the Dallas Charter for the Protection of Children, has been so pronounced that the people in the pews are, sadly, prepared to believe the worst about a prelate who is accused of either engaging in inappropriate conduct or of covering up such conduct on the part of others. If Bishop Robert Finn has been sacked the day he pled guilty to the charge of criminal negligence, things might be different. If Bishops Bruskewitz and Vasa had been told that they must either comply with the annual audits of their child protection procedures or resign, things might be different. If Archbishop Myers had been told to resign, rather than to accept a coadjutor, things might be different. But, none of those if’s came to pass and we are where we are.

Earlier this month, the Vatican announced a commission to help address the issue of clergy sex abuse. At the press conference announcing the new commission, Cardinal Sean O’Malley was asked whether or not the new commission, or some other body, would be tasked with holding bishops accountable. He said that this needed to be done but that it was unclear, as yet, how and who would undertake that work. It is imperative that at the February meeting of the Council of Cardinals, followed by the meeting of the full consistory, a process and a procedure – preferably with due process and transparent procedures – be rolled out for assessing charges that a bishop has failed to follow the norms for handling sex abuse case and disciplining those bishops who are determined to have so failed.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- San Francisco (northeast) Diocese bishop Fausto Ramon Mejia revealed Tuesday that Pope Francis has said his heart feels “like it’s been crossed by a dagger” from the abuse to several Dominican minors by his ousted envoy Józef Wesolowski.

“I was in Rome around one month ago at a gathering of bishops and had a meeting with Pope Francis on the last day. He arrived very simply and spoke with all of us was one by one and after that when I talked with him, he had a clear smile, but when I told him that I was from the Dominican Republic, that smile turned to very serious and told me this phrase: I feel my heart as if it was crossed by a dagger from t he pain for what happened in the Dominican Republic,” the prelate said, quoted by elcaribe.com.do.

Mejia said the Pontiff discussed the issue with him at length and told him that the church’s work cannot be halted because of what the former Vatican’s envoy committed. ” I couldn’t remain standing after that and had to sit and the other bishops even asked me why Pope Francis spent more time with me than with all the others… “The Pope was moved and very strongly.”

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MINNESOTA
KAAL

[with video]

By: Megan Stewart

St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith said Tuesday archdiocesan officials have not been very cooperative on priest sex abuse cases. He urged the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul to be more forthcoming with information on previous allegations of sex abuse.

In a news conference he said, “I want to let the public know one thing: let me be very clear on this,” Smith said. “We have through written and verbal requests made clear our desire to speak to individuals connected to the archdiocese and we have been told no.”

Smith says police have not had the access to interview clergy members in recent investigations into the previous allegations. As late as last week, Smith said they were told no.

“In order for us to bring these cases to the next step in the process of concluding investigations and to bring them to closure, we again, now publicly, call upon those individuals to speak with us,” Smith said.

“That’s why we are here today.”

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MINNESOTA
Marshall Independent

December 17, 2013

We credit Archbishop John Nienstedt for his frankness when commenting publically Sunday on the allegations of sexual abuse by priests in Minnesota, but we’re not surprised if what he said fell on a lot of deaf ears across the state.

During his public statement (he didn’t take questions), Nienstedt told media that upon his arrival he was told “this whole issue of clerical sex abuse had been taken care of” and that he didn’t have to worry about it. He believed it and moved on. Now he is paying the price before the judges in the court of public opinion.

Nienstedt didn’t make excuses, apologized for overlooking the issue and admitted he should have investigated it “a lot more than I did.” We respect his candor and willingness to take responsibility, but that won’t wipe his slate clean. And saying he was “surprised as anyone else,” surely didn’t help his cause, or the church’s. In a position of such great leadership, Nienstedt should’ve done his due diligence, regardless of what he was told. Had he, perhaps those blinders wouldn’t have been put on and he wouldn’t have been so “surprised.” This issue is just too damaging, too sensitive and personal, for him to have assumed anything.

Through this all, we need to remember that most of the allegations of sexual abuse against the priests listed happened decades ago, and while that doesn’t take away the sharp pain felt by victims and their families still trying to heal, parents of young children today, no matter how much their faith in the Catholic church is shaken, must continue to support their church and those who lead it.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JON TEVLIN , Star Tribune

Patrick Marker has run a website dedicated to exposing abusive priests and offering a platform for victims for more than 10 years, so he’s used to getting mail.

Some e-mails are like the one he received Monday, in which a victim told him of being sexually abused by a brother at St. John’s University in 1960, but never getting a response after he reported the incident to the abbey.

But Marker was shocked to get an e-mail last week filled with obscenities.

“I hope you die in a car accident,” the e-mail said. “You are more of a victimizer than any of them. … Die a hundred deaths you worthless crap stain of a human being.”

Even more surprising, Marker was able to determine the note came from St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., where he had been sexually abused as a youth. He finally determined the person who sent it and wrote to the man, suggesting the e-mail was threatening.

Brother Peter Sullivan, a member of the abbey’s Peace and Justice committee, wrote back: “I’m sorry for what I said. And I’m sorry for what happened to you. I just got really mad when someone told me I was on the website so I checked it out and there I was.”

It was that kind of week for the Catholic Church in Minnesota, from the St. John’s incident, to the archbishop’s odd news conference, to his announcement that he would step down temporarily because of an allegation he inappropriately touched a child, a claim he vigorously denies.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Thomas Oriti

A man has detailed six years of abuse at the hands of three Marist Brothers while he was a child in northern Queensland, saying they had more control over him than his parents.

The man known only as DK has told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse he was abused by the Marist Brothers as a boarder at Saint Augustine’s College in Cairns, between 1976 and 1981.

DK said when he was 11, a man known as Brother Leonidas watched him showering daily.

He said the brother removed curtains from the showers so the boys had no privacy.

DK said when he turned 12 in 1976, he injured his foot and went to the after-hours infirmary.

A Marist Brother, who has not been named, sexually abused the victim, leaving him “completely and utterly confused”.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 18, 2013

A MAN who was sexually abused by three members of a Catholic religious order while at school says the experience of going through the church’s Towards Healing program for dealing with such claims was like being abused again.

The victim, who cannot be named, told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, that he eventually received $80,000 in compensation from the Marist Brothers after “an aggressive and destructive” meeting in March 2010.

“The mediation that day made me feel quite dirty and filthy,” the victim told the commission.

“From 1976 to 1981, I was sexually abused; there was horrendous physical abuse and there was control by angry, cruel men who ruled my life.

“I put my trust back in them for Towards Healing and … I just felt the same angry, cruel men had done the same thing to me 35 years later. It’s the same abuse.”

After contacting the Marist Brothers as an adult, the victim, who was an 11-year-old schoolboy when the abuse began, said he was initially told “the abuse was a long time ago and I should just get over it”.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with audio]

The Royal Commission into child sexual abuse has heard how a victim of sexual abuse felt scarred by the Catholic Church’s pastoral and redress scheme known as Towards Healing.

Transcript

MARK COLVIN: The Royal Commission into child sexual abuse has heard how a victim of sexual abuse felt enraged and scarred by the Catholic Church’s Towards Healing scheme.

The victim known as “DK” has recounted the abuse he suffered at the hands of three Marist Brothers at St Augustine’s in Cairns from 1976 to 1981.

The victim told the inquiry he believed senior Marist Brothers knew that he was being abused, condoned it and covered it up.

Emily Bourke reports.

EMILY BOURKE: The 49-year-old known as “DK” has detailed how three Marist Brothers abused him during his six years at Saint Augustine’s College in Cairns.

One of his abusers was Brother Ross Murrin, who was convicted in 2008 and 2010 for child sex offences committed at schools in Sydney.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

December 18, 2013

Catherine Armitage
Senior Writer

The 49-year-old father of three spoke angrily, detailing his horrible experiences at the hands of the Marist Brothers.

He said he had put his faith in the Marist Brothers three times, but each time had been betrayed.

The first time was when he was a student at St Augustine’s College Cairns. He was abused by three different Marist brothers from when he was 11 in 1976. He was made to shower naked in front of Brother Leonidas. A brother who was supposed to be tending to his injured foot made him take his pants off and tried to masturbate him.

In 1981, Brother Ross Francis Murrin “put his hand down my pants, fondled my genitals and tried to kiss me”. This hurt the most because he had turned to Brother Murrin “in my time of need and fear” and thought they were good friends.

The witness known as DK told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse he believes other brothers at the school and its principal Brother Gerald Burns knew of the abuse and condoned it.

“After the abuse by Brother Murrin, I received a number of floggings and was treated differently by the brothers. I remember being excluded from events and feeling like they were trying to get me to leave the school”, he testified. His grades suffered.

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MAINE
Sun Journal

Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News
Maine | Wednesday, December 18, 2013

PORTLAND — An auxiliary bishop in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has been named by Pope Francis to lead Maine’s Catholics, according to a press release issued early Wednesday morning.

Bishop Robert Peter Deeley, 67, was ordained a priest in July 1973, and consecrated a bishop in January.

“As I prepare to serve the faithful of the Diocese of Portland as their new bishop and shepherd, I wish to offer my gratitude first to our Holy Father Pope Francis for entrusting me with this honor and responsibility and to Cardinal Seán O’Malley, who has taught me much of what it means to be a faithful shepherd through his word and example,” Deeley said in a statement released by the diocese early Wednesday.

“Kindly pray for me and for all God’s holy people that we may be what the Lord calls us to be, the community of the Church showing forth the love that God has shown us in his Son, Jesus,” he said.

Deeley will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Chancery.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Dec. 17

David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )

According to the Pioneer Press, “St. Paul police Chief Thomas Smith said Tuesday that investigators have not gotten cooperation from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on sexual abuse cases.”

[Pioneer Press]

This is, in our view, the most serious and damning disclosure yet in the Twin Cities Catholic crisis – that even now, even to law enforcement, Catholic officials say one thing and do another, and that even now, Catholic officials refuse to do the absolute bare minimum – responding to questions from the police.

We’re deeply saddened but not the least bit surprised by this. For decades, and even now, Catholic officials make and break promises – to parents, parishioners, police and prosecutors. They will say almost anything to gain a short term public relations advantage, knowing that when they later break their pledges, there are rarely any repercussions.

It’s easy for Catholic officials to banter around words like “cooperation.” But it’s apparently very hard for them to break decades-old patterns of self-serving secrecy.

It takes a stunning degree of arrogance and callousness to rebuff police inquiries about known and likely child molesters. How corrupt must these Catholic bishops and priests be – that they would refuse direct questioning by police?

This revelation should be the most severe “wake up call” yet to Minnesota law enforcement officials – it’s time for a full-court press to expose the truth and pursue the wrongdoers in the church, including both those who commit and those who conceal child sex crimes.

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MINNESOTA
Nick Coleman: The State I’m IN

Posted by Nick Coleman on Dec 16, 2013 in Catholics, Featured | 14 comments

Update: With comic good timing, the Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis has now been accused of playing patty fingers with the Holy Water…only it’s nothing that amusing. Instead, the Saint Paul police have opened an investigation into an allegation that John Nienstedt fingered a boy inappropriately (there are not really many ways to finger a kid appropriately) at a Confirmation ceremony in 2009.

Ish, Bish.

Really, there is no way of knowing at this point whether the charge is true, and I will put my trust in the cops to sort it out. But this is exactly the kind of thing that happens when a House of Cards is collapsing: Fingers start pointing in the darnedest directions. Whether the charge has merit, it clearly indicates disarray and skullduggery in the Bishop’s Bunker, otherwise known as The Chancery, across Summit Avenue from the great Cathedral of Saint Paul. Just Sunday, Nienstedt seemed to try to throw blame on his staff for the growing scandal in his administration. Now the staff may have struck back: It seems likely the charge that Nienstedt was careless with his Bishop’s staff may have come from his other staff, the folks who may not like the prospect of being thrown under the bus by an imperious and tone-deaf prince of the Church who has made a complete cock-up of things.

Here’s a column I wrote for a defunct newspaper in 2007 about the in-coming Archbishop’s hard-line attitude towards gays and his convicting them of mortal sin… Is that the Pot calling the Kettle black?

Stay tuned.

More later. Meanwhile, here is the post I published yesterday: The dude in the Top Hat has to go; now more than ever.

That derisive laughter you heard Sunday was the response of many Twin Cities Catholics to Archbishop John Nienstedt’s pre-Christmas “apology” for letting down his flock — again. As reported by local media with a straight face, Nienstedt’s humbug homily was supposed to be taken as an effort to come clean by a guy who seems to have missed the past 30-year history of efforts to rein in sexual abuse in the Church. Nienstedt’s words weren’t an apology; they were just another cover up. This time, it was his own back end he was trying to cover.

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PORTLAND (ME)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland

Pope Francis has appointed the Most Rev. Robert P. Deeley, J.C.D., Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston, as the 12th Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

The Holy Father’s appointment was announced on Wednesday, December 18, at 6 a.m. EST at the Vatican. The date of Bishop Deeley’s Installation Mass will be Friday, February 14, 2014, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.

“As I prepare to serve the faithful of the Diocese of Portland as their new bishop and shepherd, I wish to offer my gratitude first to our Holy Father Pope Francis for entrusting me with this honor and responsibility and to Cardinal Seán O’Malley, who has taught me much of what it means to be a faithful shepherd through his word and example,” said Bishop Deeley in a statement. “Kindly pray for me and for all God’s holy people that we may be what the Lord calls us to be, the community of the Church showing forth the love that God has shown us in his Son, Jesus.”

The Most Rev. Robert P. Deeley, 67, was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Boston on January 4, 2013, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. He has served as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia of the Archdiocese of Boston since September 1, 2011.

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CITTA DEL VATICANO
Bolletino

Il Santo Padre Francesco ha nominato Vescovo di Portland (U.S.A.) S.E. Mons. Robert Peter Deeley, finora Vescovo titolare di Kearney ed Ausiliare dell’arcidiocesi di Boston (U.S.A.).

S.E. Mons. Robert Peter Deeley

S.E. Mons. Robert Peter Deeley è nato il 18 giugno 1946 a Cambridge (Massachusetts), situata nell’arcidiocesi di Boston. Dopo aver ottenuto il Baccalaureato in Filosofia presso la “Catholic University of America” a Washington, D.C. (1969), ha frequentato il Pontificio Collegio Americano del Nord (1969-1973), ottenendo il Baccalaureato in Teologia presso la Pontificia Università Gregoriana. In seguito ha conseguito la Licenza (1981-1983) e il Dottorato (1983-1985) in Diritto Canonico presso la Pontificia Università Gregoriana.

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UNITED STATES
John Thavis

Pope Francis’ plan to reform the Roman Curia is primarily a two-pronged approach: changing the bureaucratic structures and changing the members of Vatican agencies.

Today we saw yet another sign that the new pope wants people in synch with his more pastoral vision of the church, and in particular with his views on what makes a good bishop.

U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke has been dropped from the Congregation for Bishops, an office that wields tremendous influence in shaping the world’s hierarchy. Burke has been a kind of folk hero to conservative Catholics, in particular for his statements criticizing Catholic politicians who support legal abortion. Moreover, he has said that bishops who refuse to withhold Communion from such politicians are weakening the faith.

It was significant that the new American named today to the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, has publicly defended his decision not to deny Communion in such situations.

The change means that Cardinal Burke will no longer be among the approximately 30 members of the congregation who oversee the vetting process for bishops’ nominations.

Just last week, Cardinal Burke appeared to take issue with Pope Francis’ low-key approach on some topics. The pope said earlier this year that the church cannot keep hammering only a few issues, including abortion and gay marriage. Asked about this by the Catholic network EWTN, Burke expressed some perplexity at the pope’s comments and said the church “can never talk enough” about abortion and marriage; he said abortion today is “literally a massacre of the unborn.”

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CANADA
Toronto Star

[with video]

By: Joel Eastwood Staff Reporter, Published on Tue Dec 17 2013

Former students of the notorious St. Anne’s residential school will be in a Toronto court this morning fighting for access to police and court documents which could support their abuse claims.

Hundreds of children were boarded at the former Catholic residential school in northern Ontario between 1904 and 1976.

The aging survivors, who allege physical and sexual abuse, want access to the documents, which were produced during a five-year OPP investigation into former workers and supervisors at the school. That investigation concluded in 1999 with several criminal trials and convictions.

Edmund Metatawabin, 66, who was at St. Anne’s for eight years, remembers staff putting children in a homemade electric chair for entertainment.

“They used to come to the boys room and put us little ones in the electric chair and turn the current on,” he said outside court Tuesday.

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CANADA
CBC News

By Karina Roman, CBC News Posted: Dec 18, 2013

Former students of St. Anne’s Residential School in Fort Albany, Ont., say their dispute with the federal government over disclosure of documents shows true reconciliation is a long way off.

Edmund Metatawabin, 66, is one of several survivors pushing for the government to release documents they say would corroborate their claims of abuse.

His own story is like so many others, but also unique. He is a success story in Fort Albany.

But when he was seven, he had no idea what was in store for him.

In 1956, succumbing to pressure from Catholic priests, Metatawabin’s father dropped him off at St. Anne’s. He was the first of 10 siblings to attend the school.

He went in with his father and was sent to the bathroom while his father talked with the nun. And then he heard a door close.

“I looked out the little window and saw my dad walking by, head down, looking really sad,” said Metatawabin in an interview with CBC News. “I hear, ‘Come out of there, that’s enough, your daddy’s not here to protect you no more!’ As soon as I opened the door, she grabbed my shoulder, gave me a vicious slap across the face from behind. And I hit the wall on the other side.”

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CANADA
The Globe and Mail

COLIN PERKEL
TORONTO — The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, Dec. 17 2013

Survivors of a notorious residential school in Northern Ontario were in court Tuesday fighting the federal government for access to thousands of documents they say are crucial to their compensation claims.

The survivors accuse Ottawa of hampering their bid for financial redress by hiding documentary evidence related to a provincial police investigation into St. Anne’s Indian Residential School in Fort Albany.

“The St. Anne’s school is probably one of the most outrageous examples of the abuse of school children in Canadian history,” said commission lawyer Julian Falconer.

“The truth has to be told.”

The federal government has maintained it has no authority to turn over the police materials.

However, a lawyer for the Ontario Provincial Police told Ontario Superior Court he had no issue turning over the records – if authorized by the courts.

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MINNESOTA
Seattle PI

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — St. Paul Police Chief Thomas Smith says the Twin Cities archdiocese is not fully cooperating with investigations into alleged clerical sex abuse.

At a news conference Tuesday, Smith said the archdiocese has declined to make clergy available to investigators.

He did not provide details about an allegation against St. Paul-Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt (NYNE’-sted). Nienstedt announced Tuesday that he’s stepping down from public ministry while police investigate an allegation that he improperly touched a boy during a public photo session four years ago, an accusation he strongly denies.

In a statement, the archdiocese repeated that it “seeks to cooperate with the police and all civil authorities.”

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CHILE
Bio Bio

Investigan a sacerdote de Carahue por presunto abuso sexual y almacenamiento de pornografía infantil

[Summary: Carahue priest Carolos Ignes Olguin is being investigating by prosecutors for alleged sexual abuse of a 17-year-old and storage of child pornography.]

Un sacerdote de Carahue esta siendo investigado por un presunto delito de abuso sexual en contra de una adolescente de 17 años, además de almacenamiento de material pornográfico infantil.

El fiscal del Ministerio Público, Omar Mérida precisó que un profesor denunció que una de sus alumnas estaba sosteniendo una conversación por internet donde era invitada a mantener relaciones sexuales con un hombre, a quien identificó como uno de los sacerdotes que ejerce en la Parroquia de Carahue.

El sacerdote, Carlos Ignes Olguín de la Parroquia San Pablo de Carahue, fue citado al cuartel de la Brigada Investigadora de Delitos Sexuales en Temuco, donde si bien entregó voluntariamente su computador para ser periciado al reconocer que es consumidor de pornografía para adultos, por instrucción del Obispado de Temuco, optó por guardar silencio, según el fiscal Mérida.

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AUSTRALIA
Telegraph

Dorm master removed shower curtains so he could watch boys washing, victim of sex abuse at 11 tells Royal Commission

JANET FIFE-YEOMANS THE DAILY TELEGRAPH DECEMBER 18, 2013

A VICTIM of sexual abuse as a child at a Marist Brothers college has slammed the “angry, cruel men” who not only hurt him as a child but abused him again when he went through the Catholic Church’s Towards Healing process.

“I don’t call it Towards Healing. I call it Towards Hurting,” the man, 49, has told the royal commission into institutionalised responses to child sex abuse today.

“The mediation … made me feel quite dirty and filthy.

“From 1976 to 1981 I was sexually abused; there was horrendous physical abuse by angry, cruel men who ruled my life and had more control over me than my parents.

“I had put my trust back in to them for Towards Healing and by three of clock that afternoon (on the day of mediation) I just felt the same angry, cruel men had done the same thing to me 35 years later.”

The man, who has asked not to be identified, was sexually abused from the age of 11 at St Augustine’s College in Cairns by three different brothers. His dorm master removed the shower curtains so he could watch the boys showering.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Darlington and Stockton Times

By Julia Breen

THE Church of England has been accused of falling short of what is needed by campaigners wanting a public inquiry into the extent of child abuse.

The Stop Church Child Abuse alliance, which represents church abuse survivor groups, said it had been informed by Bishop of Durham elect Paul Butler in a meeting last week that the Church of England would not support an independent inquiry into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church and Church of England.

The Church confirmed last night it would instead support a “wide ranging” public inquiry into institutional child abuse in the church and other key national institutions – but not one specific to the churches.

Campaigners say this is a u-turn on the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby’s statement at the General Synod in July that the church would support an inquiry – and the Synod voted unanimously to apologise to victims of clergy abused and do everything necessary to help victims of abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

BY ANNETTE BLACKWELL
December 18, 2013

The Catholic Church’s response to sex abuse was “Towards Hurting” rather than “Towards Healing” one of the victims has told an inquiry.

The man said he had no faith left after being abused by three Marist Brothers at school and then participating in the church’s mediation process Towards Healing, which he called a “sham.”

He felt this way when he learned that the order of brothers withheld the fact that an independent mediator in his case actually worked for the Catholic Church.

The 49-year-old identified as DK, who was abused while a boarder at St Augustine’s Marist College in Cairns from 1976-81, told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse of his desire to forgive, and to educate his children in the Catholic system.

But this had changed because of the process to which he was subjected.

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OREGON
Crescent-News

TERRENCE PETTY Associated Press Published: December 18, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Portland attorney who won a nearly $20 million judgment for a sex abuse victim against the Boy Scouts of America and forced the organization to release secrets on pedophiles contained in its so-called “perversion files” has died. Kelly Clark was 56.

Clark died Tuesday morning at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota from causes that appear to be cancer-related, said Paul Mones, Clark’s co-counsel in the case.

Clark was one of the most prominent American attorneys who fought for childhood victims of sexual abuse — bringing and winning cases against the Roman Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Boy Scouts of America.

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TOLEDO (OH)
Blade

BY TK BARGER
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR

A day after the Catholic Diocese of Toledo’s former bishop was installed as archbishop in Hartford, Conn., two prominent members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests went to the diocesan offices in Toledo to present a pen and a screwdriver as symbols calling for change.

Barbara Blaine, SNAP’s founder and president, a Chicagoan who formerly lived in Toledo, and Claudia Vercellotti, a Toledo SNAP leader, went into the Catholic Center at 1933 Spielbusch Ave. on Tuesday and gave the items to a receptionist.

Before making their presentation, the women stood on the sidewalk in front of the diocesan offices and held SNAP posters and a board of school-age pictures of people, including Ms. Blaine and Ms. Vercellotti, who say they were abused by clergy.

Ms. Vercellotti pointed to a prominent sign on a wing of the Catholic Center building designating it as “Monsignor Doyle Hall,” saying that the diocese paid a settlement to a woman who alleged she was abused as a child by Msgr. Michael Doyle, who died in 1987.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Tom Scheck, Laura Yuen, Mike Cronin · St. Paul, Minn. · Dec 17, 2013

Archbishop John Nienstedt, leader of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has voluntarily “stepped aside from all public ministry” while police investigate an allegation that he touched a boy on the buttocks in 2009.

In doing so, Nienstedt becomes the first sitting U.S. bishop to voluntarily relinquish some of his duties because of a police investigation into alleged sexual misconduct, said the Rev. Thomas Doyle, a priest and canon lawyer who worked at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C. Nienstedt denied the allegation.

“I must say that this allegation is absolutely and entirely false,” the archbishop wrote in a letter posted on the archdiocese’s website. “I have never once engaged in any inappropriate contact with a minor.”

The St. Paul Police Department began its investigation at 2 p.m. Monday after the archdiocese encouraged a person within the church who is required by law to report allegations of abuse to contact authorities. In a statement this morning, archdiocese officials said they learned of the allegation from that person.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Tom Scheck · St. Paul, Minn. · Dec 17, 2013

Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché will take over Archbishop John Nienstedt’s public duties while the Twin Cities Catholic church leader steps back from public ministry during a police investigation. Nienstedt is being investigated by police for allegedely touching a boy on the buttocks.

Piché, a Minnesota native, must temporarily be the public face of an archdiocese that is facing fierce criticism for how it handled clergy sexual abuse.

Raised in Minneapolis, Piché first started attending Mass at St. Charles Borromeo in the St. Anthony suburb. The oldest of seven children, he took a special interest in the church as a youngster.

The Catholic Spirit newspaper, which is owned and operated by the archdiocese, wrote in 2009 that Piché started talking about becoming a priest when he was in the eighth grade.

“We always respected the priesthood…and I think that was the thing that impressed him,” Piché’s father, LeRoy, told the newspaper. “We let the Holy Spirit do the work, as we do in every case.”

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced Dec. 17 that Archbishop John Nienstedt voluntarily “stepped aside from all public ministry” while police investigate an allegation that he touched a boy on the buttocks in 2009.

In doing so, Nienstedt became the first sitting U.S. bishop to voluntarily relinquish some of his duties because of a police investigation into alleged sexual misconduct, said the Rev. Thomas Doyle, a priest and canon lawyer who worked at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Nienstedt denied the allegation.

“I must say that this allegation is absolutely and entirely false,” the archbishop wrote in a letter posted on the archdiocese’s website. “I have never once engaged in any inappropriate contact with a minor.”

During the investigation, Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piche will assume the archbishop’s public duties during the investigation, according to a statement from the archdiocese.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Lancaster Guardian

A priest jailed for sexual abuse could face more prison time after his victim demanded a review of his sentence.

Canon Stephen Shield, 53, of Balmoral Road, Lancaster, was found guilty last month of three counts of indecent assault following a trial at Preston Crown Court and was jailed for 12 months.

But his victim says the sentence was unduly lenient and has requested a review by the attorney general.

The attorney general’s office has until January 10 to decide whether the case should come under review.

Under the pseudonym Icare, the victim said: “I find it belittling to the many victims of such absolutely horrific criminality that such nonsensical sentences are handed out.

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MINNESOTA
Winona Post

By Chris Rogers
On Monday, the Diocese of Winona released the names of 14 diocesan priests “credibly accused” of sexual abuse, including a man still living in Winona and four other living men. A Ramsey County judge ordered the diocese to release the names earlier this month.

Bishop John M. Quinn issued a statement on Monday apologizing for “the insufferable harm to victims, their families, parishioners, and the Church” caused by accusations that diocesan priests sexually abused children and violated “the sacred trust placed in them.”

After four years of fighting for this disclosure, attorney Jeff Anderson said, “We believe that there are more that deserve to be known and exposed, but today we take this as a giant step forward.” Anderson’s firm specializes in clergy abuse cases and is representing an alleged victim in a suit that accuses the diocese of negligence in its response to past reports of abuse.

The diocese argued against publishing the names in court hearings last month, saying that it would condemn the men, who have never been convicted, without a fair trial. “We seek justice on all sides.” said Diocese of Winona Director of Mission Advancement Joel Hennessy in an interview this summer, pointing out that the deceased men named in the list have no way to defend themselves. Most of the priests are deceased. Four of the five others are ages 64, 79, 80, and 86, and the statute of limitations is believed to have passed on all of the allegations against them, precluding any criminal charges. Father Leo Koppala, 47, of Blue Earth, was charged with criminal sexual abuse of an 11-year-old girl this summer and was placed on administrative leave pending the result of prosecution.

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.

NEW MEXICO
ABQ Journal

By Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board

It was a dirty secret for years. Now the extent of sexual abuses by some priests in the Diocese of Gallup is being hidden behind legal maneuvering in bankruptcy court.

Thirteen lawsuits have been filed in Arizona Superior Court since August 2010 alleging sexual abuse by six priests in the diocese from the 1950s to the 1980s.

In reaction to the lawsuits and in expectation of more to come, the diocese has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy protection. In addition to the pending lawsuits, three lawsuits and at least a dozen complaints have been settled – in secret. That makes determining the scope of the abuse difficult.

The diocese’s attorney says she does not know how many cases the diocese has settled, when the settlements were made, or how much the diocese has paid. Bankruptcy court records list 121 “confidential claimants” who have filed abuse claims against the diocese.

Victims’ attorneys say the bankruptcy filing is a way to hide the scope of the abuse. They say it stops lawsuits from being filed and depositions from being taken, halts the discovery process attorneys use to find information, postpones lawsuits in progress and seals the case from the public. In a Sunday Journal story by staff writer Olivier Uyttebrouck, an attorney who has 18 claimants who have not filed lawsuits yet says the filing makes it unlikely lawsuits can be filed after bankruptcy proceedings are over.

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MINNESOTA
The New Civil Rights Movement

Archbishop Who Says Gay Marriage Is From ‘Satan’ Accused Of Inappropriate Contact With Youth

by DAVID BADASH on DECEMBER 17, 2013

An outspoken U.S. Archbishop has temporarily stepped down from his post after being caused of inappropriate contact with a young boy in 2009. John Nienstedt, head of the St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota Archdiocese, has denied the charge, which includes the “allegation that he inappropriately touched an underage male on the buttocks during a public photo session,” the AP reports.

“The St. Paul Police Department began its investigation at 2 p.m. Monday after the archdiocese encouraged a person within the church who is required by law to report allegations of abuse to contact authorities,” Minnesota Public Radio reports. “In a statement this morning, archdiocese officials said they learned of the allegation from that person.”

“The single incident is alleged to have occurred in 2009 during a group photography session with the archbishop following a confirmation ceremony,” the statement said.

In a letter to Twin Cities Catholics posted on the archdiocese’s website today, Nienstedt denied the accusation.

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.

MINNESOTA
KARE

[with video]

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Archbishop John Nienstedt, the head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has been accused of inappropriately touching a minor in 2009.

In light of the accusation, the Archbishop will step down from public ministry while the church and St. Paul Police investigate the incident. The accuser alleges Nienstedt touched his buttocks during a “public photo session” following a confirmation ceremony.

“The letter is a real shock,” best-selling author John Thavis said.

Thavis lived in Italy and covered the Vatican for 30 years before moving back to St. Paul, where he is writing another book.

“Obviously he is vehemently denying the accusation,” the author added.

The archbishop did write a public letter in which he says “this allegation is absolutely false.”

The alleged incident was reported to the Archdiocese on Thursday. Nienstedt learned about it Sunday evening and St. Paul Police say they were informed on Monday afternoon.

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.

MINNESOTA
KARE

[with video]

Allen Costantini, KARE

MINNEAPOLIS – Reaction to Archbishop John Nienstedt’s suspension of his public ministry was mixed on Tuesday.

Nienstedt announced in a letter that he was “stepping aside” while an investigation is underway of an alleged sexual abuse involving the church leader.

According to information from the Archdiocese, a young man alleged that Nienstedt touched his buttocks during a public photo opportunity following a confirmation ceremony in 2009. A person required to report such allegations told the Archdiocese, then the police.

St. Paul Police are investigating the allegation.

Nienstedt denied the claim in his letter, writing “I do not know the individual involved; he has not been made known to me. I presume he is sincere in believing what he claims, but I must say that this allegation is absolutely and entirely false.”

Speaking after the noon Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, parishioners opinions varied on the cleric’s action.

“I think it is very sad,” said Robin Ayers, of Stillwater. “I am going into daily prayer and I will pray for Archbishop Nienstedt and hope that truth and transparency does come out.”

“I think that everyone is held accountable,” said Paul Lyverm of Plymouth. “I am a firm believer in my faith and the Catholic religion, but everyone is held accountable.”

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TEXAS
KXXV

By Kristianna Gross

FAIRFIELD –
It’s a case that’s rocked the central Texas town of Fairfield. The trial for the pastor accused of sexually assaulting a 15 year old member of his church began Tuesday.

A strange turn of events caused the trial to be recessed until tomorrow. They were able to get through opening arguments and the victims testimony before evacuating the freestone county courthouse.

That now 16 year-old girl confronted her alleged rapist face to face. Her tears overflowed as she described what she says happened to her.

The victim says Anthony Lynn Thibodeaux sexually assaulted her after attending a church revival with her two sisters and Ladonna Brackens in Teague, last year. She told jurors she and her sisters went swimming at brackens house before going to that event.

Brackens is a former Fairfield ISD Assistant Coach.

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UNITED STATES
The Eponymous Flower

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Edit: when Benedict XVI. was trying to clean up house, there were approximately 2 dissident senior clergy forced to resign every month. Now it seems it’s open season on conservative clergy, or at least clergy that don’t cooperate when it comes to Aberromarriage and the consensus. For example, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst of Limburg, or in this case, Archbishop John Nienstedt of Minneapolis-St. Paul, who is being blamed for crimes committed mostly under his leftist predecessors.

Showing a great deal of desperation, the enemies within and outside of the Church locally have drummed up what looks to be a very fabricated charge against the Archbishop, whose resignation is highly sought after. Here’s his letter from the Spirit:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This is a difficult letter for me to write to you. This past weekend I learned of an allegation from a young man whom I anointed in the Sacrament of Confirmation who alleged that he believes I inappropriately touched his buttocks during a public photo session following the ceremony. Please allow me to say that I normally stand for those photos with one hand on my crozier (staff) and the other either on the right shoulder of the newly confirmed or on my pallium (the short stole), which hangs from my chest. I do that deliberately and there are hundreds of photographs to verify that fact.

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WISCONSIN
SNAP Wisconsin

Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director
CONTACT: 414.429.7259

Good News. Bad News.

Step forward. Step back.

While Pope Francis, perestroika fashion, continues to clear out the hardliners from Vatican positions of authority, like the notorious vestment obsessed Raymond Burke (from La Crosse, Wisconsin), on the sexual abuse front Francis made a very troubling decision today, or approved one, by appointing Green Bay’s Vicar General Fr. John Doerfler to become the new bishop for the diocese of Marquette, Michigan.

In a March 2011 deposition in the case of serial Green Bay child molester, Fr. John Feeney, Doerfler, then chancellor and Vicar General of the diocese, admitted under oath that in 2007 he deliberately and systematically destroyed nearly all records and documentation in the secret church files of at least 51 clergy reported to have sexually assaulted children. The shredding took place just after the Wisconsin State Supreme Court ruled that victims of childhood sexual abuse could file fraud suits against Catholic dioceses in the state for covering up for clerics like Feeney.

When specifically asked if it bothered Doerfler that clerics who abused children were being dumped into the community without public notice, Doerfler chillingly answered: “No”.

A recent national survey found that 70 percent of American Catholics believe that addressing the sexual abuse scandal must be the top priority for the Pope, well in front of any other issue facing the church. Of course, this is particularly relevant today with the current investigation by St. Paul police of an alleged child sexual abuse report against Archbishop John Neistadt. Regardless of the outcome of the Neistadt investigation, the Minneapolis archdiocese, like so many others, continue to unravel with revelations of long standing complaints of criminal child abuse and cover up.

While Francis is showing that he is going to remove self-styled “traditionalists” like Burke from power, it is still not clear what he intends to do about removing (much less promoting) those like Doerfler who have been directly involved in the concealment of child sex crimes.

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.

MINNESOTA
KSTP

By: Megan Stewart

St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith said Tuesday archdiocesan officials have not been very cooperative on priest sex abuse cases. He urged the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul to be more forthcoming with information on previous allegations of sex abuse.

In a news conference he said, “I want to let the public know one thing: let me be very clear on this,” Smith said. “We have through written and verbal requests made clear our desire to speak to individuals connected to the archdiocese and we have been told no.”

Smith says police have not had the access to interview clergy members. As late as last week, Smith said they were told no.

“In order for us to bring these cases to the next step in the process of concluding investigations and to bring them to closure, we again, now publicly, call upon those individuals to speak with us,” Smith said. “That’s why we are here today.”

Smith said he sent a letter, in addition to numerous verbal requests, asking for access to members of the archdiocese who have relevant knowledge of the procedures within the archdiocese.

“It’s never good enough when someone tells us no and that’s why we have to work with our partners,” Smith said. “And let me clarify. I request to talk with people in voluntary interviews to learn more information to further our investigations, but you have to have probable cause. If someone tells us no, they don’t want to talk to us and the archdiocese says they’re cooperating you can come to the reasonable conclusion of where we are here today.”

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MINNESOTA
Patch

Posted by Chris Steller (Editor) , December 17, 2013

Updated below. Archbishop John Clayton Nienstedt is stepping aside from his ministerial duties pending an investigation into a new charge that he inappropriately touched a boy in 2009, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis said in a statement Tuesday.

See the full statement from the archdiocese and letter from the archbishop below, as well as a response from Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Nienstedt “emphatically denies the allegation,” the statement said. The accuser “believes I inappropriately touched his buttocks during a public photo session,” Nienstedt wrote in a letter posted at the archdiocese website.

The archdiocese recently released a list of priests “credibly accused” of child sexual abuse. The Winona diocese also released its its own similar list.

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MINNESOTA
KSTP

[with video]

By: Scott Theisen
The head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is stepping aside from public ministry after an allegation that he touched an underage male.

Archbishop John Nienstedt denies the allegations, but is removing himself from ministry pending an investigation.

The archdiocese says the incident allegedly occurred in 2009 after a confirmation ceremony. Nienstedt is accused of inappropriately touching an underage male on the buttocks during a group photography session.

The archdiocese learned of the allegation last week and instructed the person who brought it forward to go to police.

In a letter posted Tuesday on the archdiocese website, Nienstedt says the allegation is “absolutely and entirely false.” He says he hopes the investigation will be thorough and quick so he can return to work.

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.

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon and Nick Woltman
Pioneer Press

St. Paul police Chief Thomas Smith said Tuesday that investigators have not gotten cooperation from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on sexual abuse cases.

He told reporter that police have made written and oral requests to talk with archdiocese officials and priests, and “we’ve been told no.”

“We again now publicly call upon these individuals to speak to us,” Smith said.

Smith’s comments came hours after the archdiocese reported that the top official of the Roman Catholic Church in the Twin Cities has been accused of “inappropriate touching” of a boy on the buttocks in 2009.

The allegation was brought to police by a mandated reporter within the church, and has prompted Archbishop John Nienstedt to step aside from his “public ministry” temporarily while an investigation takes place, a Tuesday statement by the archdiocese said.

Nienstedt vehemently denies the charge.

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.

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: December 17, 2013

Nienstedt vehemently denied allegations and will remove himself from public ministry. Police say church officials aren’t fully cooperating.

Archbishop John Nienstedt has been accused of inappropriately touching a boy, and has removed himself from public ministry while the matter is investigated, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced Tuesday.

The move comes after a young man alleged that Nienstedt touched his buttocks during a group photo session following a confirmation ceremony in 2009.

Nienstedt called the allegation “absolutely and entirely false.”

The incident was reported to St. Paul Police, which began an investigation Monday.

St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith declined to comment on the allegation against Nienstedt at a Tuesday afternoon news conference. He said the public can rest assured that his department has assigned adequate resources to investigate that case and others.

But the chief took exception to the archdiocese’s assertion that it is cooperating fully with police. Smith said his investigators have been denied access to certain clergy members for informational interviews.

He specifically said that former vicar general Kevin McDonough has declined to be interviewed by the police.

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OREGON
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
December 17, 2013

PORTLAND, Oregon — Portland lawyer Kelly Clark, who won a landmark court decision forcing the Boy Scouts of America to release its “perversion files” on suspected child molesters in the organization, has died at 56.

His co-counsel in the Boy Scouts case, Paul Mones, said Clark died Tuesday of cancer-related causes at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Clark represented the victims of child molestation in suits against the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America.

In 2012, a suit he brought forced the Boy Scouts to release more than 1,200 files it kept on suspected abusers.

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OREGON
Willamette Week

Portland lawyer Kelly Clark, a former Oregon legislator who achieved prominence through his representation of the victims of child sex abuse, has died at 56.

Clark over the past 15 years won landmark cases for clients against the Archdiocese of Portland and the Boy Scouts of America.

His personal story was fascinating: Once a fast-rising and widely respected state representative from Lake Oswego destined for state-wide office, he crashed into alcoholism and worse, pleading guilty to third-degree sexual abuse in 1992.

But Clark, a Republican, worked to redeem himself and built a thriving law practice defending those who’d been abused as children.

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OREGON
The Oregonian

By Aimee Green, The Oregonian
on December 17, 2013

Portland attorney Kelly Clark — who became nationally known for his successes in championing the causes of sexual abuse victims — died Tuesday morning. He was 56.

During his 30 years as a lawyer in Oregon, Clark represented hundreds of child molestation victims in litigation against what he called “institutions of trust” — the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts of America, the Church of Latter Day Saints and school districts. He helped force mammoth organizations to concede to decades of sexual abuse within their ranks, or to efforts to keep knowledge of abuse out of the public light.

Clark died of cancer-related causes, surrounded by family members and loved ones at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.. Clark was told in September he was ill with celiac disease, said law partner and friend Steve Crew. Clark spent several weeks in the hospital and was released. Earlier this month, he traveled to the Mayo Clinic to seek treatment for what later was determined to likely be leukemia and liver cancer. He was put on hospice, and within days, died.

His wife, Sabine Moyer Clark, died in October after a year-long battle with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. She was 49.

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OREGON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Dec. 17 2013

David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )

Kelly Clark was among the most compassionate men I’ve ever met and one of the most effective advocates for abuse victims. Kelly always saw the big picture and put the needs of his clients – both short term and long term – ahead of every other consideration.

He was passionately committed to using civil litigation to protect kids, prevent crimes, deter cover ups and expose those who commit and conceal heinous child sexual abuse.

He could have taken more cases and won more money, if not for his dedication to revealing the truth about powerful individuals and institutions that hurt or endangered kids.

Many clergy sex abuse victims and advocates across the country were inspired by his courage and his compassion. Ours is a safer society for kids these days because of Kelly’s giant heart and ground-breaking work.

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MALTA
Times of Malta

Two former priests convicted of child molestation charges have been granted more time by a court to make their submissions in a case for compensation.

Charles Pulis and Godwin Scerri were convicted in November last year and jailed for six years and five years respectively.

The 10 victims submitted compensation claims against the former priests, the Curia, the Attorney General and the Missionary Society of St Paul (MSSP) of which the former priests formed part of when they worked at St Joseph Home.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

John L. Allen Jr. | Dec. 17, 2013 NCR Today

ROME Pope Francis is celebrating his 77th birthday in relatively quiet fashion, which isn’t stopping others from marking the occasion — including, improbably enough, the pro-gay magazine The Advocate, which named him its Person of the Year.

In truth, however, Francis had already given himself a major birthday present 24 hours before by shaking up the membership of the Congregation for Bishops in order to lay the groundwork for a new generation of “Francis bishops.”

In the United States, attention was understandably focused on the nomination of Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., and the effective removal of Cardinal Raymond Burke, president of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican’s supreme court. Putting in the moderate Wuerl and taking the strongly conservative Burke off couldn’t help but seem a signal of the kind of bishop Francis intends to elevate in the United States.

As pope, however, Francis is responsible not just for the 6 percent of the world’s Catholic population that lives in the United States, but the whole shooting match, 1.2 billion faithful all over the planet.

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MINNESOTA
WTAQ

[Statement from the archdiocese]
[Letter from Archbishop John Nienstedt]

By David Bailey

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – The Roman Catholic archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Tuesday said in a statement Archbishop John Nienstedt was stepping aside while authorities investigate an allegation that he inappropriately touched a boy’s buttocks during a 2009 group photo session.

The archdiocese, which has been under fire for its past handling of alleged clergy sex abuse cases, said in the statement Nienstedt stepped aside temporarily after consulting with Pope Francis’ papal nuncio, or ambassador, to the United States.

Nienstedt denied the allegations in a separate statement.

The announcements follow the archdiocese’s court-ordered release earlier in December of a list of priests it said had been “credibly accused” of child abuse.

None of the priests are still in ministry and many are deceased.

Child sex abuse litigation has cost the U.S. Catholic Church slightly over $3 billion in settlements since 2002, said Charles Zech, an expert in church finances and economics professor at Villanova University near Philadelphia.

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MINNESOTA
Towleroad

ANDY TOWLE

Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt, who launched a mass mailing campaign of 400,000 anti-gay DVDs in 2010, created a special “marriage prayer” to support for the anti-gay amendment on the state’s ballot last November, told the mother of a gay son that she must reject him or risk burning in hell, and said Satan is behind gay marriage, has been accused of inappropriately touching a minor, KSTP reports:

Archbishop John Nienstedt denies the allegations, but is removing himself from ministry pending an investigation.

The archdiocese says the incident allegedly occurred in 2009 after a confirmation ceremony. Nienstedt is accused of inappropriately touching an underage male on the buttocks during a group photography session.

The archdiocese learned of the allegation last week and instructed the person who brought it forward to go to police.

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.

MINNESOTA
Nick Coleman

Posted by Nick Coleman on Dec 16, 2013

That derisive laughter you heard Sunday was the response of many Twin Cities Catholics to Archbishop John Nienstedt’s pre-Christmas “apology” for letting down his flock — again. As reported by local media with a straight face, Nienstedt’s humbug homily was supposed to be taken as an effort to come clean by a guy who seems to have missed the past 30-year history of efforts to rein in sexual abuse in the Church. Nienstedt’s words weren’t an apology; they were just another cover up. This time, it was his own back end he was trying to cover.

This was an attempt to pass the buck for a lack of due diligence by a church leader who came to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in 2007 with a very specific agenda in mind — an agenda that was not focused on protecting the most vulnerable members of the church but on destroying the liberal bent of an archdiocese that some in Rome — including former Pope Benedict XVI — wanted to quash. Nienstedt, appointed by Benedict to replace the liberal Archbishop Harry Flynn, was just the man for the job. He already had smashed the liberal legacy of the late bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm, Minn., Raymond Lucker, who strongly supported women in the church and recommended that married men be eligible for ordination. In St. Paul, Nienstedt wasted no time cracking down on dissenters in the Twin Cities church, his actions largely focused against gays and homosexual support groups: He supported an outfit that claimed to be able to “cure” gay Catholocs, refused Communion to gay activists, ordered St. Joan of Arc in Minneapolis to cease holding a “Rainbow Mass” during Twin Cities Pride week and even wrote a cranky letter to the University of Notre Dame opposing the school’s decision to invite “anti-Catholic” gay rights supporter Barack Obama to speak. At one point, the bully in the pulpit even told an anguished mom that she better be careful about supporting her gay child or she could end up in hell.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Tom Scheck, Laura Yuen, Mike Cronin · St. Paul, Minn. · Dec 17, 2013

Archbishop John Nienstedt, leader of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has voluntarily “stepped aside from all public ministry” while police investigate an allegation that he touched a boy on the buttocks in 2009.

The St. Paul Police Department began its investigation at 2 p.m. Monday after the archdiocese encouraged a person within the church who is required by law to report allegations of abuse to contact authorities. In a statement this morning, archdiocese officials said they learned of the allegation from that person.

The boy is a minor, according to the statement.

“The single incident is alleged to have occurred in 2009 during a group photography session with the archbishop following a confirmation ceremony,” the statement said.

In a letter to Twin Cities Catholics posted on the archdiocese’s website today, Nienstedt denied the accusation.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Brian Lambert

Here at MinnPost, Briana Bierschbach covers the announcement of Archbishop John Nienstedt temporarily stepping down after being accused of inappropriate contact with a minor.

Elsewhere … For The National Catholic Reporter, Brian Roewe says: “Upon consulting with Carlo Maria Viganò, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, Nienstedt decided to step down from public ministry effective immediately while the investigation is ongoing, according to the archdiocese. … Nienstedt explained in the letter his typical procedure for photo shoots like the one in question, saying he normally stands with one hand on his crozier, or staff, and the other on the right shoulder of the newly confirmed or on his pallium. ‘I do that deliberately and there are hundreds of photographs to verify that fact,’ he wrote. While the investigation plays out, Nienstedt said he will use the time to pray for Twin Cities Catholics and the accuser and asked for Catholics to pray for him.”

At MPR, Tom Scheck, Laura Yuen and Mike Cronin add: “One of Nienstedt’s fiercest critics says he hopes the investigation is resolved quickly. ‘I feel very sorry for the archbishop. I hope this is just a misunderstanding or some misinterpretation. It’s certainly very sad for him,’ said the Rev. Michael Tegeder, pastor of St. Frances Cabrini church in Minneapolis. Tegeder said clergy routinely interact with parishioners at Confirmation and First Communion events. He said the interaction could have been in the spirit of a football celebration, in which players congratulate each other. Tegeder said he’s still pushing for Nienstedt to step down, regardless of the police investigation. Tegeder said he’s troubled by the way the archbishop has handled the clergy sex abuse crisis, his stance on the recent marriage amendment battle and some of his financial decisions, Tegeder said. ‘That’s the reason I would still hope he could step down and also just for his own good’, he said.” Conventional wisdom would suggest this “stepping down” will more than temporary.

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MINNESOTA
LGBTQ Nation

MST. PAUL, Minn. — Twin Cities Catholic Archbishop John Nienstedt, who in 2010 advised a parishioner to reject her gay son or suffer eternal damnation, has stepped down from public ministry due to allegations that he inappropriately touched a young boy on the buttocks during a photo session a year earlier.

Authorities said the investigation against Nienstedt began on Monday — a day after he publicly apologized and addressed the media regarding sexual abuse allegations involving dozens of priests within the Diocese, reports WCCO-TV.

Nienstedt has denied the allegation but will voluntarily step aside from public ministry, effective immediately, while an investigation into the incident takes place.

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MINNESOTA
Patch

Posted by Andrea Parrott (Editor) , December 17, 2013

Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piché will take over the public duties of Archbishop John C. Nienstedt, who has been accused of inappropriately touching a boy in 2009, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Nienstedt denies the allegation and will voluntarily step aside from public ministry during the investigation.

Bishop Lee Piché was ordained as a priest in 1984, according to his biography from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. He has served at multiple churches, including All Saints Catholic Church in Lakeville from the early 2000s to 2008. He also spent time teaching at the University of St. Thomas from 1994 to 1997.

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MINNESOTA
dotCommonweal

December 17, 2013

Grant Gallicho

Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis has stepped aside after it was alleged that he inappriately touched a minor on the rear end during a group-photo shoot in 2009. In a letter to Twin Cities Catholics, the archbishop denies the allegation. “I do not know the individual involved,” he wrote. “He has not been made known to me. I presume he is sincere in believing what he claims, but I must say that this allegation is absolutely and entirely false.” After consulting with the papal nuncio, Nienstedt decided to voluntarily relinquished his public duties until an investigation is complete (Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché will take over).

“Upon learning of the allegation last week, the archdiocese instructed the mandated reporter to make the matter known to the police,” according to a diocesan statement. The archdiocese promises to cooperate with civil authorities. Nienstedt’s decision to withdraw from public ministry, the statement claims, demonstrates “the archdiocese’s commitment to disclosure. These steps further confirm that all within the archdiocese will be subject to the internal policies we have established.”

For months the archdiocese has been buffeted by a seres of daming revelations about the way Nienstedt and his predecessors have handled abuse allegations. News of this allegation comes just as Nienstedt has started working to restore his people’s trust (more on that later). But even if the allegation seems difficult to believe–no one else noticed a bishop touching a kid’s buttocks during a post-confirmation group photo?–it won’t help his cause.

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.

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The Marist Brothers, a Catholic Church teaching order, allowed a paedophile member to continue teaching, even at a prestigious Sydney boarding school, despite knowing of his past abusive behaviour dating back to the 1950s. This was revealed at the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse 4th case study, concerning the Catholic Church’s “Towards Healing” process, which dealt with abuse allegations throughout Australia, except in Melbourne.

The hearing has previously heard of abuse cases in the Brisbane archdiocese and the Lismore diocese. This week it has been concerned with the Marist Brothers. It has heard from a victim, known only as DG, who was abused by Brother Raymond Foster in the 1970s. Foster suicided on the day he was due to appear in court for extradition to Queensland State. He left a note in which he admitted abusing DG, and asked DG for forgiveness.

The Marist Brothers did not notify DG of the note, and issued press releases saying Foster had died of natural causes and was a good man. DG only found out about the note through the Commission. The Marists had denied the abuse, and instructed their lawyers and insurance company accordingly to resist compensating DG.

Alexis Turton (pictured above), who was provincial (i.e. head) of the Marist Brothers Sydney region until the mid-1990s told the enquiry that Brother Foster was teaching at St Joseph’s College in August 1994 even though there had been complaints about him starting in 1991.

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.

MINNESOTA
Post-Bulletin

Kay Fate, kfate@postbulletin.com
SAVAGE — Jim Keenan was 13 years old and small for his age, standing just 4 feet 8 inches tall in eighth grade, when he was chosen for a special honor at Church of the Risen Savior in Burnsville: serving as altar boy for the first-ever Mass at the church.

He didn’t realize it at the time, but he also had been chosen by the priest, and became the latest in a long line of men who say the priest, Thomas Adamson, sexually abused them.

Keenan has claimed the priest abused him for about a year in the early 1980s. Adamson, now 80 and a resident of Rochester, has been named in many suits but never faced charges because of the statute of limitations. He was defrocked in 1984.

So Keenan, now 46, set his sights on the Winona Diocese, which he simply claimed moved Adamson around when allegations of abuse surfaced at parishes where he served.

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.

WISCONSIN
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel Dec. 17, 2013

Appleton native and vicar general of the Diocese of Green Bay Father John Doerfler was tapped by the Vatican on Tuesday to become the 13th bishop of the Diocese of Marquette, Michigan.

“I could not be more delighted,” Green Bay Bishop David Ricken said in announcing Doerfler’s appointment. “Bishop-elect Doerfler … has excelled in his service to this dioceses … and has been a trusted advisor on moral and canonical issues to the bishop.”

Doerfler, 49, is a part-time lecturer in moral theology at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners.

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.

MINNESOTA
Religion News Service

David Gibson | Dec 17, 2013

(RNS) Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt, already under fire for failing to take action against suspected abusive priests, announced on Tuesday (Dec. 17) that he is stepping aside after a minor accused the outspoken archbishop of touching his buttocks during a group photo after a 2009 confirmation ceremony.

In what he called “a difficult letter for me to write,” Nienstedt says he learned of the allegation over the weekend. He said he does not know the young man, and said he presumes his accuser to be “sincere in believing what he claims.”

But he rejected the charge as “absolutely and entirely false.”

“I normally stand for those photos with one hand on my crozier (staff) and the other either on the right shoulder of the newly confirmed or on my pallium (the short stole), which hangs from my chest,” Nienstedt explained. “I do that deliberately, and there are hundreds of photographs to verify that fact.”

Catholic children can be confirmed between the ages of 7 and 16, after they receive First Communion, though confirmation usually takes place when they are about 13 years old.

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.

AUSTRALIA
Armidale Express

A defrocked priest facing 139 historic child sex assault charges is set to face court today where he may enter a plea to some charges.

The 59-year-old former priest cannot be named for legal reasons.

At his last appearance it was decided a plea offer would be served on the Crown by the defence for reply today.

It was indicated the man would likely face trial in relation to two of eleven alleged victims due to a lack of agreement on the facts between the Crown and the defence.

Of the man’s charges, 74 relate to the alleged sexual abuse of three girls and six altar boys during the 1970s and 1980s and 64 relate to the alleged abuse of a further two girls and one altar boy in Moree and Armidale in the early 1980s.

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.

MINNESOTA
WDAY

[Statement from the archdiocese]
[Letter from Archbishop John Nienstedt]

By: AMY FORLITI, Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced Tuesday that he is stepping aside from public ministry effective immediately after an allegation that he inappropriately touched an underage male on the buttocks during a public photo session.

In an open letter posted on the archdiocese’s website, Archbishop John Nienstedt denied the allegations, but said he would remove himself from ministry pending a police investigation.

Nienstedt said he learned of the allegation over the weekend. He said it came from a young man whom Nienstedt had anointed in the Sacrament of Confirmation in 2009. Nienstedt said he doesn’t know who his accuser is, but said the young man alleged that Nienstedt inappropriately touched him during a public photo session following the confirmation ceremony.

“I presume he is sincere in believing what he claims, but I must say that this allegation is absolutely and entirely false,” Nienstedt wrote. “I have never once engaged in any inappropriate contact with a minor.”

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.

MINNESOTA
CNN

By Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor

(CNN) The Catholic Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Tuesday denied an accusation of sexual abuse but said he has placed himself on voluntary leave of absence during an investigation.

Archbishop John Nienstedt said he learned this weekend that a young man he anointed in the Sacrament of Confirmation says the archbishop “inappropriately touched his buttocks during a public photo session following the ceremony.” The accuser says the incident happened in 2009, according to the archdiocese.

“I do not know the individual involved; he has not been made known to me,” Niendstedt said in a statement posted on the website of his archdiocese.

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.

MINNESOTA
Catholic World Report

December 17, 2013
By Catherine Harmon

Today the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced that Archbishop John Nienstedt is stepping down from public ministry during the investigation of a claim that he inappropriately touched a minor four years ago.

From Catholic News Service:

Archbishop John C. Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis is voluntarily stepping aside from all public ministry, effective immediately, while St. Paul police investigate an allegation that he inappropriately touched a male minor on the buttocks in 2009 during a group photography session following a confirmation ceremony.

In a Dec. 17 letter to Catholics of the archdiocese, Archbishop Nienstedt called the allegation “absolutely and entirely false.”

“I have never once engaged in any inappropriate contact with a minor and I have tried to the very best of my ability to serve this archdiocese and the church faithfully, with honor and due regard for the rights of all, even those with whom I disagree,” he said.

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.

UNITED STATES
City of Angels

Katy Ebeling

Faster Than the Speed of Life

(What a pedophile priest survivor discovered when she took to the internet to seek justice. To be posted on line here at City of Angels 15 through 2015. First excerpt coming in January.)

April 2012: Okay just called St. Peter Damian Church and said, “I’m Katy Jones and I’m in town for six weeks and wondered if you have boxes of stuff I can go through from the early years of the church say, 1949 to 1955.”

I said, “My dad was an usher there then and my mom played the organ, so I was hoping I’d be able to find pictures or old news clippings about the church from that time. I wondered if you have anything?”

She said “There is something in storage.” And then she asked, “What was your name again?”

My dang inability to lie clicked in, and before I knew it I said “Ebeling. The family name is Ebeling. His name was George, hers was Lucille.”

It seemed to be taking her a while to write that down in the silence from the other end of the phone, then she said, “Okay, I’ll check into it and call you back.”

We’ll see.

Yes, I filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Archdiocese last year, along with my sister, because we were molested in the fifties by just one of three pedophile priests at St. Peter Damian in Bartlett IL, but hey, my dad helped found this church.

Dang.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on December 17, 2013

Jerry Brown could have been a hero.

He could have helped expose a cache of child pornography in the basement of the local archdiocese.

He could have forced bishops to release the names of adults credibly accused of abuse in the past ten years, but whose identities were kept secret from parishioners, communities, and the cops.

He could have exposed the names of the credibly accused kept secret for decades.

He could have flushed out men who sexually abused kids and then bullied anyone who dared expose them.

He could have helped local police get the evidence they needed to re-open important investigations into child sex crimes.

He could have helped hundreds of victims of child sexual abuse use the courts to seek justice.

But what did he do? He cried “unfair!” Instead of signing SB131, the California Child Victims Act, and using it as a first-step rallying cry to change the laws that affect ALL institutions and give ALL victims rights in the courts, he decided that NO kids deserve justice.

Here is his logic: You stand on the side of a boat and have one life preserver in your hand. You have another life preserver next to you, that you only need to inflate. Inflating the life preserver will take you 15 seconds. But there are two children drowning. Instead of throwing in one life preserver and taking the short amount of time to inflate the second, you decide to let both children drown. Why? It’s unfair if one child has to wait an additional 15 seconds.

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.

UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON DECEMBER 17, 2013

A new poll shows most people really like Pope Francis.

[Seattle PI]

So what does that mean?

I suspect it means we like it when

–famous people show humility
–royal figures act like regular folks
–people who often scold us stop scolding us
–hope seems to spring up where hope has long been missing, and
–we are distracted from horrific, seemingly intractable scandals by touching or reassuring or surprising gestures.

And what does the pope’s popularity mean for children?

At best, probably nothing. At worst, it’s probably somewhat hurtful.

Why? Because as long as the pope gets accolades for seeming or being kind and gentle, he’s more apt to continue to be kind and gentle. And to protect kids by stopping clergy sex crimes and cover ups, Pope Francis has to be the opposite of kind and gentle. He has to be tough on his bishops who are enabling predator priests, nuns, brothers, seminarians and bishops.

That’s what Benedict didn’t do. That’s what John Paul didn’t do. That’s what no Catholic official on the planet has done or is doing.

That’s the missing ingredient – harsh consequences for men who help predators hide evidence and flee overseas and keep their collars and paychecks. Very rarely do secular officials impose such consequences on enablers (see Bishop Robert Finn and Msgr. William Lynn). Even more rarely do church officials impose such consequences (and when they do, it’s always in the most oblique ways).

Until that changes, until those who destroy evidence and stonewall prosecutors and deceive parishioners are severely and publicly and clearly punished, this crisis continues, no matter how much adoration the pope generates.

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.

WISCONSIN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday December 17, 2013

Statement by Peter Isely of Milwaukee, SNAP Midwest Director, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 414-429-7259, peterisely@yahoo.com )

For at least three reasons, we believe that Fr. Doerfler should never have been promoted.

–In a March 2011 deposition in the case of serial Green Bay child molester Fr. Patrick Feeney, Doerfler, then chancellor and vicar general of the diocese, admitted under oath that in 2007 he deliberately and systematically destroyed nearly all records and documentation in church files of Green Bay clergy reported to the diocese to have sexually assaulted children. The shredding took place just after the Wisconsin State Supreme Court ruled that victims of childhood sexual abuse could file fraud suits against Catholic dioceses in the state for covering up for sexually abusive clerics like Feeney.

[BishopAccountability.org]

— The diocese of Green Bay, after years of public appeals, still refuses to release the names and offense histories of those clerics that have sexually assaulted children in the diocese, a total of at least 51, according to a 2004 national study released by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

–In his 2001 deposition Doerfler was specifically asked about clerics who abuse children in the Green Bay diocese are left hidden and unidentified, and simply quietly released back into the community without public notification.

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.

MINNESOTA
Post-Bulletin

Kay Fate, kfate@postbulletin.com

The release Monday of a list of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse was almost exactly five years coming.

What started as a lawsuit against the Diocese of Winona has been batted around multiple courts since Dec. 5, 2008.

And with it came an apology from Bishop John Quinn: “Over the past few decades, a number of clergy members in the Diocese of Winona sadly have been accused of violating the sacred trust placed in them by children, youth and their families and were accused of detestable crimes of sexual abuse. This has caused insufferable harm to victims, their families, parishioners and the Church. For this I am truly sorry.”

At the heart of the suit is Thomas Adamson, now 80, a former priest who served in Rochester; the diocese moved him from parish to parish despite multiple complaints of abuse that surfaced as early as 1964. His behavior was reported to superiors six times; it was never reported to police. …

Timeline

Timeline of victims’ efforts to make the Diocese of Winona’s list public:

Nov. 26, 2008: As part of his lawsuit against the Diocese of Winona, Jim Keenan (John Doe 76C) who was sexually abused as a child by Thomas Adamson, sought the names and documents on the Diocese of Winona’s 13 priests.
Dec. 5, 2008: Order issued requiring the Diocese to produce the names and documents.
April 17, 2009: Diocese of Winona’s protective order granted which prevented Jim Keenan and his attorneys from making the names public.

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.

MINNESOTA
Austin Daily Herald

Austin residents may not remember much about Louis Cook or Jack Krough, but the two are spurring conversation after they were among 14 priests accused of sexually abusing children identified by the Diocese of Winona Monday.

Many residents, including many Pacelli Catholic Schools graduates, were unhappy to hear about the two priests, one of whom taught at Pacelli, but few were willing to speak about the issue.

“I’m glad they’re releasing their names,” said Karla Dooley, Austin resident and 1986 Pacelli Catholic Schools graduate. Dooley is one of hundreds of Pacelli graduates who heard the news about the priests Monday.

Though Cook, who died in 2004, served in Austin in 1970 and 2000, he didn’t work with Pacelli students. Not so for Krough, who was ordained in 1976 and began his priesthood in Austin, where he served at St. Augustine Church and was a teacher at Pacelli Catholic Schools for four years.

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.

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com

The top official of the Roman Catholic Church in the Twin Cities has been accused of “inappropriate touching” of a boy on the buttocks in 2009.

The allegation was brought to police by a mandated reporter within the church, and has prompted Archbishop John Nienstedt to step aside from his “public ministry” temporarily while an investigation takes place, a Tuesday statement by the archdiocese said.

Nienstedt vehemently denies the charge.

The archdiocese “instructed the mandated reporter to make the matter known to police,” and its officials, including Nienstedt, “stand ready to cooperate fully with the St. Paul police,” the statement said.

Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piche, vicar general, will take over Nienstedt’s responsibilities, the statement said. The Rev. Charles Lachowitzer continues as vicar general and moderator of the curia.

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.

MINNESOTA
Northlands News Center

St. Paul, MN (NNCNOW.com) — The head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis says he is voluntarily stepping down following an allegation that he inappropriately touched an underage male.

Officials with the Archdiocese announced Tuesday that an allegation has been brought by a mandated reporter within the Church to the St. Paul Police of inappropriate touching of a minor male on the buttocks by Archbishop John Nienstedt.

The archbishop will voluntarily step aside from all public ministry while this matter is being investigated. Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché, in his role as a vicar general, will cover all of the archbishop’s public duties during this time.

In a letter, Archbishop Nienstedt denies the allegation saying “I have never once engaged in any inappropriate contact with a minor and I have tried to the very best of my ability to serve this Archdiocese and the church faithfully, with honor and due regard for the rights of all, even those with whom I disagree.”

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.

MINNESOTA
KFGO

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has announced that Archbishop John Nienstedt has been accused of inappropriately touching a boy.

The statement says that a mandated reporter within the church reported to St. Paul police the allegation that Nienstedt touched a minor male on the buttocks in 2009 during a group photography session after a confirmation ceremony.

Archbishop Nienstedt responds while he presumes the young man is sincere in believing what he claims, the allegation is “absolutely and entirely false” and Nienstedt says he has “never once engaged in any inappropriate contact with a minor.” the archbishop says he stands for all such photographs with one hand on his staff and the other on either the newly confirmed or the stole that hangs on his chest, and hundreds of photographs will confirm this.

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.

MINNESOTA
KARE

[Statement from the archdiocese]
[Letter from Archbishop John Nienstedt]

A written statement released to the media says the Archdiocese became aware of the allegations last week, and instructed a mandated reporter within the church to contact police and report the matter so an investigation could begin.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Archbishop John Nienstedt is strongly denying allegations that he inappropriately touched a juvenile male on the buttocks during a group photo session in 2009.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced the allegations against Nienstedt Tuesday, and said the Archbishop is cooperating fully with St. Paul Police in the investigation. A written statement released to the media says the Archdiocese became aware of the allegations last week, and instructed a mandated reporter within the church to contact police and report the matter so an investigation could begin.

Nienstedt will step away from all public ministry until the investigation is complete.He released a letter Tuesday denying the allegations.

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MINNESOTA
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Dec. 17, 2013

The archbishop of St. Paul-Minneapolis has voluntarily removed himself from public ministry while local authorities investigate an accusation against him of inappropriate touching four years ago.

The Twin Cities archdiocese learned last week of an allegation that Archbishop John Nienstedt touched a young man’s buttocks in 2009 during a group photo session following an area confirmation ceremony. The archdiocese said it directed the mandated reporter who first learned of the alleged incident to report it to St. Paul police.

Upon consulting with Carlo Maria Viganò, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, Nienstedt decided to step down from public ministry effective immediately while the investigation is ongoing, according to the archdiocese. Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché, the vicar general, will take the archbishop’s place in public duties.

Spokesman Jim Accurso said the archdiocese could not comment further as the investigation is pending.

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.

MINNESOTA
Catholic News Service

By Catholic News Service

St. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) — Archbishop John C. Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis is voluntarily stepping aside from all public ministry, effective immediately, while St. Paul police investigate an allegation that he inappropriately touched a male minor on the buttocks in 2009 during a group photography session following a confirmation ceremony.

In a Dec. 17 letter to Catholics of the archdiocese, Archbishop Nienstedt called the allegation “absolutely and entirely false.”

“I have never once engaged in any inappropriate contact with a minor and I have tried to the very best of my ability to serve this archdiocese and the church faithfully, with honor and due regard for the rights of all, even those with whom I disagree,” he said.

“True, I am a sinner, but my sins do not include any kind of abuse of minors,” he said. “I have met victims and I know the lasting damage that such abuse causes.”

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.

MINNESOTA
Patch

[Statement from the archdiocese]
[Letter from Archbishop John Nienstedt]

Posted by Chris Steller (Editor) , December 17, 2013

Archbishop John Clayton Nienstedt is stepping aside from his ministerial duties pending an investigation into a new charge that he inappropriately touched a boy in 2009, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis said in a statement Tuesday.

See the full statement from the archdiocese and letter from the archbishop below.

Nienstedt “emphatically denies the allegation,” the statement said. The accuser “believes I inappropriately touched his buttocks during a public photo session,” Nienstedt wrote in a letter posted at the archdiocese website.

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.

MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com)

The Twin Cities archbishop is now accused of abuse.

[CBS Minnesota]

Archbishop Nienstedt is right to step aside. We hope police and prosecutors investigate this thoroughly and promptly. We also hope that anyone else who might be able to shed light on this allegation will quickly step forward, contacting secular authorities, not church authorities.

Twin Cities Catholic officials should do in this case what we’ve urged in virtually every other case of accused clerics: They should beg anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered misdeeds or crimes by Nienstedt to call police.

We hope this mandated reporter is disciplined. He or she should have called police directly. It is disturbing that even now, two decades after Twin Cities Catholic officials pledged to “reform” their handling of clergy sex cases, a Catholic staffer apparently still reports suspected abuse first to archdiocesan officials instead of law enforcement officials.

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.

MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

[Statement from the archdiocese]
[Letter from Archbishop John Nienstedt]

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced Tuesday an allegation of inappropriate touching has been brought against Archbishop John Nienstedt.

According to the Archdiocese, Nienstedt is accused of inappropriately touching a young boy on the buttocks during a group photo session after a confirmation ceremony in 2009.

Nienstedt has denied the allegation but will voluntarily step aside from public ministry, effective immediately, while an investigation into the incident takes place.

Once the Archdiocese learned of the allegation, they contacted police. They said in a statement on their website that they are ready to fully cooperate with the St. Paul Police’s investigation.

Authorities said the investigation against Nienstedt began around 2 p.m. on Monday — a day after he publicly apologized and addressed the media regarding sexual abuse allegations involving dozens of priests within the Diocese.

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.

MINNESOTA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on December 17, 2013

St. Paul & Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt has been accused of abuse.

According to a statement by the Archdiocese

An allegation has been brought by a mandated reporter within the Church to the St. Paul Police of inappropriate touching of a minor male on the buttocks by Archbishop John Nienstedt. The single incident is alleged to have occurred in 2009 during a group photography session with the archbishop following a confirmation ceremony.

Note – this is not a part of a lawsuit. It is a report by a mandated reporter made to the police.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Briana Bierschbach

Archbishop John Nienstedt is stepping aside from his public position as head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis while St. Paul Police investigate allegations that he inappropriately touched a boy in 2009.

According to a statement from the archdiocese Tuesday morning, an unspecified church individual who is required to report all abuse allegations told St. Paul police that Nienstedt had been accused of inappropriately touching “a minor male on the buttocks.” The “single incident” took place in 2009 at a group photography session with the archbishop after a confirmation ceremony, according to the release.

Nienstedt “emphatically denies” the allegation but will immediately step aside while it is investigated.

“The archbishop and the archdiocese stand ready to cooperate fully with the St. Paul police,” the release read.

Nienstedt addressed the allegations in a Tuesday letter to parishioners in the archdiocese.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date:Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Source: Jim Accurso

The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis today announced that an allegation has been brought by a mandated reporter within the Church to the St. Paul Police of inappropriate touching of a minor male on the buttocks by Archbishop John Nienstedt. The single incident is alleged to have occurred in 2009 during a group photography session with the archbishop following a confirmation ceremony. Archbishop Nienstedt emphatically denies the allegation. Upon learning of the allegation last week, the archdiocese instructed the mandated reporter to make the matter known to the police. The archbishop and the archdiocese stand ready to cooperate fully with the St. Paul Police.

After consultation with the Holy Father’s ambassador to the United States (the papal nuncio), the archbishop will voluntarily step aside from all public ministry while this matter is being investigated, effective immediately. Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché, in his role as a vicar general, will cover all of the archbishop’s public duties during this time. Father Charles Lachowitzer continues in his position as a vicar general and moderator of the curia.

The archdiocese is mindful of the due process concerns of those involved. There must be justice and due consideration of the rights and dignity of every human person, both the individual involved and the archbishop. This is not only the bedrock of our beliefs as Catholics, but also of the justice system of our country.

The steps taken in response to the allegation against the archbishop demonstrate and reaffirm the archdiocese’s commitment to disclosure. These steps further confirm that all within the archdiocese will be subject to the internal policies we have established. This is the position of the archdiocese and the archbishop himself. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the individual involved and the archbishop as justice is pursued and all may move forward on a path toward healing.

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.