MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press
By Rubén Rosario
rrosario@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 07/18/2014
I picked up a summer must-read this past week. It has drama, conflict, intrigue and zips along at 107 pages.
No. It’s not “Invisible” by James Patterson, though I really wish it were fiction. This read has a decidedly boring title: “Affidavit of Jennifer M. Haselberger.”
It should be retitled “The Archdiocese That Forgot Christ,” for this is really what it is: a scathing account of how top church officials from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis put kids and adults at risk.
It is the best argument yet, since the local clergy abuse and mismanagement scandal broke months ago, that Archbishop John Nienstedt should step down or if he refuses, be removed from his post.
I’m not saying this lightly. He is, as Haselberger told me, “my archbishop.” But he needs to go for the good of the church and the good people in it. Now.
A turning point for me, as it was for Haselberger, who served as chancellor for canonical affairs from 2008 to April 2013, were statements Nienstedt made after he celebrated Mass at a church in Edina last December. This was two months after Haselberger, reportedly rebuffed at every attempt to expose alleged cover-ups or mishandling of abusive and misbehaving priests, contacted Minnesota Public Radio and publicly bared the goings-on.
Nienstedt told reporters that he believed the issue of clergy abuse had been taken care of by the time he became archbishop in 2008 and that he was surprised when the news stories broke. Given that he had indeed reviewed recent clergy abuse files and that a priest was convicted the summer before of abusing two children, Haselberger almost fell out of her chair.
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