SAINT PAUL (MN)
The Catholic Spirit [Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis MN]
July 21, 2023
By Joe Ruff
After nine years directing the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment, Tim O’Malley will transition Aug. 1 to part-time assistant for special projects for Archbishop Bernard Hebda.
“I am grateful for Tim’s commitment and service to this local Church, as he so effectively built our Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment team and the Ministerial Review Board, while genuinely and compassionately walking with survivors of sexual abuse and their loved ones,” the archbishop said in a statement. “Given his many gifts, I am grateful that Tim has agreed to continue to serve the Archdiocese, albeit in new ways.”
Replacing O’Malley as director will be Paul Iovino, the deputy director of the MSSE office for nearly three years. Iovino and O’Malley are former law enforcement officials.
“I am grateful that Paul brings to this position not only his 25+ years in law enforcement but also his commitment to serving the Church,” Archbishop Hebda continued in his statement. “I feel that we are blessed to have him as a member of our team. Please join me in praying for Tim and Paul in their new roles; may the Holy Spirit continue to bless them and their families.”
Iovino retired from the St. Paul Police Department as community affairs chief shortly before joining the MSSE in 2021. He started working for the department in 1995, first as a patrol officer for four years, then in numerous leadership roles. One of his jobs was commander of the Juvenile Unit/Missing Persons Unit from 2006 to 2008, which brought him into contact with abuse victims and their families.
O’Malley, a former state administrative law judge who also had served as superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and as an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, joined the archdiocese in 2014 to revamp its safe environment efforts.
The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2015 in the wake of mounting claims of clergy sexual abuse dating back as far as the 1940s. Ultimately 453 claims were filed against the archdiocese during the claim-filing period, most of which were related to lawsuits brought against the archdiocese during a three-year-lifting of the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse claims in Minnesota. In May 2018, the archdiocese announced it had reached a $210 million settlement.
By June 2021, the archdiocese had met its financial obligations under the bankruptcy agreement, but archdiocesan leadership remains committed to vigorous abuse prevention and to programs supporting those harmed by abuse.