MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: March 25, 2014
Facing a key court hearing Thursday, the Twin Cities archdiocese has asked the court to give it more time to turn over its church files on sexually abusive priests and to limit the files’ public disclosure.
“This is an exhaustive, time consuming and extremely expensive and burdensome process,” said a memorandum filed Monday by archdiocese attorneys in Ramsey County District Court.
The archdiocese was ordered in February to give the court its records on about 40 priests who had been credibly accused of sexually abusing children from 1970 to the present. It was given a March 31 deadline.
The church has asked Judge John Van de North to extend the deadline by 90 days. On Thursday, Van de North will hear their arguments in court, along with renewed requests to seal the sworn testimonies of Archbishop John Nienstedt and former vicar general Kevin McDonough, the archdiocese’s point person on abuse for decades.
Meanwhile, Van de North on Tuesday appointed retired Judge Robert H. Schumacher as a special master for the case, to address disputes over the likely hundreds of documents and depositions, as well as to make recommendations about unsealing information. Schumacher served 12 years in Hennepin County District Court and 18 years on the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
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