MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Editorial
Archbishop John Nienstedt stepped down as head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Monday because, he said in a statement, “my leadership has unfortunately drawn attention away from the good works of His Church and those who perform them.”
The relief that washed over many Minnesotans — Roman Catholics and the rest — with Monday’s news that Archbishop John Nienstedt has resigned should not be mistaken for a sense that all is now well within the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Rather, for some time, Nienstedt’s departure has been widely seen as a sad necessity. The Star Tribune Editorial Board has called it a requisite first step in a long effort to restore the reputation of the region’s largest religious organization — a reputation sullied by child molestation and an alleged coverup so widespread that both criminal charges and a civil case were filed against the entire archdiocese in Ramsey County District Court on June 5.
Fairly or not, the 68-year-old Nienstedt became the face of those charges — a fact that, to his credit, he seemed to acknowledge in a statement announcing his resignation early Monday. He was stepping aside, he said, “to give the Archdiocese a new beginning amidst the many challenges we face.” Exiting with him is Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché, whose resignation statement said “the people of the archdiocese … need healing and hope. I was getting in the way of that, so I had to resign.”
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