MINNESOTA
KSTP
By: Megan Stewart
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is responding to a pointed editorial published by a well-known Catholic news organization Friday.
The editorial staff at the National Catholic Reporter says Archbishop John Nienstedt should release the findings of an investigation into allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct, including claims that he made unwanted sexual advances toward a former Twin Cities priest, according to a report posted online in June by Commonweal Magazine.
Nienstedt has repeatedly denied the allegations and he initiated an independent investigation into the allegations.
Editors at National say the law firm Greene Espel finished looking into the claims on July 29 and say delaying the disclosure of information “point(s) to patterns of cover-ups.”
“We have completed our work for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. We have provided a written report as requested by the archdiocese,” Matthew Forsgren at Greene Espel told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS on Friday.
“Any questions regarding the investigation and report should be directed to the archdiocese.” …
However, Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piche, who is in charge of the investigation for the archdiocese, says they cannot release the findings of the probe in question because it has not been completed.
Piche released the following statement in response to the editorial:
“Several months ago, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis received claims regarding alleged misbehavior involving Archbishop John Nienstedt. The claims did not involve anything criminal or with minors.
The Archbishop asked me to look into these claims, and the investigation is ongoing. We are still following up with individuals and information, which takes time depending on the availability of individuals and accessibility of information they may have. Any media report that the investigation is complete is inaccurate.
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.