DETROIT (MI)
Metro Times
March 27, 2019
By Michael Betzold
The subject of Metro Times came up during Mass at St. Edward on the Lake Catholic Church.
One of the world’s worst scandal-tainted bishops living in your parish? Not to worry, say local Catholic Church leaders.
By means of a letter signed by the pastor of St. Edward on the Lake, the Archdiocese of Detroit is assuring parishioners that it “is patently untrue” that Archbishop John Nienstedt could be a “potential threat” to their community north of Port Huron.
In a surprise announcement at the end of Mass on Saturday afternoon, Fr. Lee Acervo told his flock at St. Edward for the first time that Nienstedt is their neighbor. He emphasized that allegations against him are unproven — and added that the March 20 Metro Times cover story, in which his residence was revealed, is “not based on truth.”
The church made copies of the letter from Acervo — which also provided “my absolute assurance” that any “insinuations” that Nienstedt could be a dangerous neighbor “are unfounded” — available to people leaving Mass.
But Acervo is apparently only the messenger of this “all clear” signal. In his remarks from the pulpit, Acervo said that even though it’s in the first person and signed by him, he didn’t compose the letter — “the archdiocese wrote it.”
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