MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Madeleine Baran St. Paul, Minn. Aug 11, 2014

Documents made public Monday in a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis show that Archbishop John Nienstedt made false statements under oath in April about his knowledge of a priest accused of child sexual abuse.

Nienstedt said in an April 2 deposition that he didn’t know until March that a priest accused in the 1980s of sexually assaulting at least one teenage girl and “sexually exploiting” several women was still in ministry, a violation of church policy.

“I was not aware that he was publicly in ministry,” Nienstedt said, referring to the Rev. Kenneth LaVan. “And as soon as I realized it, I had his faculties removed.” Though retired, LaVan continued to assist with Masses at Twin Cities parishes until he was formally removed from all ministry in December 2013. Nienstedt said he…