Anti-Gay Rights Catholic Bishop Accused of Same-Sex ‘Misconduct’

MINNESOTA
The Wire

ABBY OHLHEISER

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Archbishop John Nienstedt is well-known for his outspoken statements against gay people and marriage equality. And now, the Catholic leader is under investigation by a law firm hired by the Archdiocese, based on “multiple allegations” that Nienstedt had relations with multiple men, including priests and seminarians. Although he authorized the investigation himself, the Archbishop denies the allegations are true. His archdiocese confirmed that the investigation was underway, according to the Religion News Service.

The story was first reported by the Catholic magazine Commonweal, based on an interview with the archdiocese’s former canon lawyer Jennifer Haselberger. Here’s what she told them, apparently based on conversations with the lawyers doing the investigation:

“I believe that the investigators have received about ten sworn statements alleging sexual impropriety on the part of the archbishop dating from his time as a priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit, as Bishop of New Ulm, and while coadjutor and archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis,” Haselberger told me. What’s more, “he also stands accused of retaliating against those who refused his advances or otherwise questioned his conduct.”

According to RNS, the lawyers’ lines of inquiries include an investigation into whether the archbishop had a relationship with Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, a priest at the center of a sex abuse scandal currently plaguing the archdiocese.

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