MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota
[with video]
John Lauritsen
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul has filed for bankruptcy amid lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by some of their clergy members.
Archbishop John Nienstedt said declaring bankruptcy is the “fairest” way to help the victims of sexual abuse.
He said it will also allow the archdiocese to continue the work it does for the more than 800,000 Catholics in the Twin Cities.
Since 2013, the archdiocese has been sued about two dozen times due to sex abuse claims. …
The move by the Archdiocese will likely not impact Catholic churches and schools, but at St. Olaf’s in Minneapolis Friday, long-time Catholics said it’s only one step in recovering from clergy sex abuse allegations.
“That’s not the center of our faith,” one parishioner said. “I think when people lose faith in their center, that’s when they leave the church.”
Others said filing for bankruptcy gives the archdiocese a chance to do the right thing.
“I empathize,” another churchgoer said. “Whatever has to be, they have good administrators, and I think they are doing the best they can.”
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.