UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Brian Roewe | Jan. 14, 2016
Two U.S. bishops who prematurely resigned their posts amid clergy sexual abuse scandals each have found new landing spots outside their previous dioceses.
A southern Michigan parish announced over the weekend that Archbishop John Nienstedt, formerly head of the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese, will help out temporarily in the coming months, while Bishop Robert Finn, former head of the Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo. diocese, began last month as chaplain for a Nebraska community of women religious.
Within the span of two months last spring, Finn, 62, and Nienstedt, 68, stepped down as shepherds of their respective dioceses, both of which teemed with anger and anguish for their church’s handling of child sexual abuse allegations. In the case of Finn, it was a 2012 misdemeanor conviction for failing to report suspected child abuse that drew a probationary sentence in civil court but no recourse from the church. For Nienstedt, his abdication, along with Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché, came just 10 days after the Ramsey County prosecutor brought criminal charges against the archdiocese for its handling of abuse allegations.
Both Finn and Nienstedt now have new homes.
Nienstedt has agreed to assist in pastoral ministries at St. Philip Roman Catholic Church in Battle Creek, Mich., in the Kalamazoo diocese, or about two hours west of his hometown Detroit diocese. He took up residence in Battle Creek on Jan. 6.
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.