MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER and MARY LYNN SMITH , Star Tribune staff writers Updated: July 1, 2014
Nienstedt says the allegations, about sexual misconduct with seminarians and priests, are “absolutely false.”
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Tuesday confirmed a monthslong investigation into new sexual misconduct allegations against Archbishop John Nienstedt.
The announcement came after a blog post in the lay Catholic magazine Commonweal reported that the Nienstedt investigation centered on allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct with seminarians, priests and other men.
In a statement Tuesday, Nienstedt said he ordered the examination himself and directed church officials to hire outside investigators. The inquiry by the Greene Espel law firm of Minneapolis is ongoing, and Jennifer Haselberger, the whistleblower who accused the archdiocese of failing to properly handle child sex abuse cases, is among the people who have been interviewed.
“These allegations are absolutely and entirely false,” Nienstedt said in the statement, which added that the allegations did not concern sexual misconduct with minors or criminal behavior. He called the allegations “a personal attack against me due to my unwavering stance on issues consistent with church teaching, such as opposition to so-called same-sex marriage.” …
Questions go back to Detroit
The newest allegations stem from the years Nienstedt spent as a priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit, as bishop of the New Ulm, Minn., Diocese and as coadjutor in the Twin Cities Archdiocese.
Haselberger, the archdiocese’s former canon lawyer who turned whistleblower last year, told Commonweal that she has been interviewed.
Haselberger told the magazine that the lawyers conducting the investigation also asked about Nienstedt’s relationship with Curtis Wehmeyer, a former St. Paul priest with a history of sexual misconduct who was convicted of sexually abusing two boys in 2012.
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.