MINNESOTA
Aljazeera America
Prosecutors earlier this month charged the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis with ignoring reports of abuse
June 15, 2015
The archbishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, and a deputy bishop resigned Monday after prosecutors there charged the archdiocese with having failed to protect children from unspeakable harm from a pedophile priest.
The Vatican said Pope Francis accepted the resignations of Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche. They resigned under the code of canon law that allows bishops to resign before they retire because of illness or some other “grave” reason that makes them unfit for office.
Earlier this month, prosecutors charged the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as a corporation of having “turned a blind eye” to repeated reports of inappropriate behavior by a priest who was later convicted of molesting two boys. No individual was named in the complaint.
Prosecutors said in March that no charges would be brought against Nienstedt, who had been accused by a boy of inappropriately touching his buttocks during a group photo session. The prosecutors said there was “insufficient evidence” to charge the archbishop, and Nienstedt denied any inappropriate contact.
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