MINNESOTA
Fox 9
ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) – Documents released Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court detail former Archbishop John Nienstedt’s “gay lifestyle” in his early days as a priest and bishop in Detroit. A confidential memo from the Delegate for Safe Environment for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, dated Nov. 22, 2013, raises concerns that Nienstedt’s past behavior may have affected his decisions involving Father Curtis Wehmeyer.
In Dec. 2015, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi filed 6 criminal child endangerment charges against the archdiocese “to hold it criminally accountable for its failure to protect children.” The church was accused of keeping Father Curtis Wehmeyer in the ministry despite knowledge of his sexual misconduct. Wednesday morning, Choi agreed to drop the 6 criminal charges as part of the updated civil settlement.
The confidential memo lists the following allegations:
“A priest in Detroit has alleged that while staying overnight at the rectory of the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Michigan (then) Fr. Nienstedt sexually solicited him. The alleged advance was not reciprocated. In a discussion with the source, wherein the incident was recounted, the priest stated: ‘I know when I’m being hit on.’”
A former priests discussed an incident in Michigan where Bishop Nienstedt “began massaging his neck” while he was driving.
Another protest said that a number of years ago he was in Detroit for a conference, shortly after Nienstedt was named coadjutor archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis. A number of priests spoke told him about Nienstedt’s “promiscuous gay lifestyle” while serving as a priest in Detroit and while living in Rome.
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.