VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Pichè of St Paul’s-Minneapolis after Prosecutors charged the archdiocese for failing to protect minors from a predator priest
GERARD O’CONNELL
In a surprise but highly significant decision regarding bishop accountability, Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop John Clayton Nienstedt of St Paul’s and Minneapolis and also that of the archdiocese’s auxiliary bishop, Lee Anthony Piché.
The Vatican broke the news at midday on Monday, June 15, and said that Francis took the decision in conformity with Canon 401 #2 of the Church’s Code of Canon Law. Article 2 of that canon states: “A diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill-health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation from office.”
The “grave reason” for which the archbishop and auxiliary bishop handed in – or were asked to hand in – their resignation existed when Prosecutors, on June 5, charged the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis over its handling of clergy abuse claims. They charged that the archdiocese – and by implication its leaders – had failed to protect children from harm and had “turned a blind eye” to repeated reports of inappropriate behavior by one of its priests who was later convicted of molesting boys.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi charged the archdiocese with six counts of “gross demeanor”. Announcing this, he said there was ‘not yet’ enough evidence to charge any individual. The charges relate to the archdiocese’s handing of the case of the former priest, Curtis Wehmeyer, who is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for molesting two boys and faces further prosecution involving a third boy in Wisconsin.
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