Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Minn. archdiocese apologizes for failures, as prosecutors drop abuse charges

Minn. archdiocese apologizes for failures, as prosecutors drop abuse charges

Last updated on: July 21, 2016 at 8:50 pm by CNA Daily News

Minn. archdiocese apologizes for failures, as prosecutors drop abuse charges 2016-07-21T20:50:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

St. Paul, Minn., Jul 21, 2016 / 02:50 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis as its present and past archbishops apologized for failures to protect children from a sexually abusive priest.

“We failed to give priority to the safety and wellbeing of the children he hurt over his interests and those of the archdiocese. In particular, we failed to prevent him from sexually abusing children,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Saint Paul and Minneapolis said on Wednesday. “Those children, their parents, their family, their parish and others were harmed. We are sorry. I am sorry.”

“I know that words alone are not enough. We must do better,” Archbishop Hebda said in a July 20 letter to the faithful of the archdiocese. He added that “far-reaching changes are already underway.”

Prosecutors had charged the archdiocese with six criminal counts of failing to protect minors concerning the actions of the former priest Curtis Wehmeyer. Wehmeyer, who has been laicized, is now serving a five-year prison sentence for the sexual abuse of two minors and the possession of child pornography.

Before he faced legal charges, archdiocesan officials knew of his misconduct, but the priest was still promoted to pastor of a parish.

Archbishop Hebda arrived in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis to serve as its apostolic administrator in June 2015.

He succeeded Archbishop John Nienstedt, who resigned after the archdiocese was criminally charged, in March 2016. Archbishop Emeritus Nienstedt, 69, said he resigned with “a clear conscience” and voiced support for his staff and for the archdiocese’s child protection protocols.

The archdiocese had filed for bankruptcy in January 2015. Its reorganization plan, announced in May 2016, includes legal settlements, a victim counseling fund, and the creation of an independent trust to pay claimants.

Archbishop Hebda’s statement promised progress.

“I pledge to all victims and survivors, to the community, and to you, my brothers and sisters of this local Church, to move forward openly, collaboratively and humbly, and always mindful of our past,” he said. “We will never forget.”

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi on July 20 said there is no basis to bring a criminal charges against any of the archdiocese’s leaders or the archdiocese. The investigation had lasted three years.

Choi agreed to dismiss the charges on condition that the Saint Paul and Minneapolis archdiocese admit it “failed to keep the safety and well-being of these three children ahead of protecting the interests of Curtis Wehmeyer and the Archdiocese.”

On July 20, Joe Dixon, counsel for the archdiocese, said that the dismissal of the charges is “unconditional and speaks for itself.”

Archbishop Hebda said that after he arrived the archdiocese decided to cooperate with the county attorney “to try to make amends to those harmed and achieve justice for all in the broadest possible way.”

“Cooperation seems to have been the right avenue for achieving a just resolution,” he said.

Archbishop Hebda said the civil settlement with Choi’s office commits to a course of action “that will keep kids as safe as possible.”

“I am grateful that his office will hold us accountable,” he said. “Today, we humbly acknowledge our past failures and look forward to continuing down that path to achieve those vital, common goals that together we all share.”

The archbishop asked for prayers for sex abuse victims and their families, and for himself, and promised that he would pray for the faithful of the archdiocese.

Archbishop Emeritus Nienstedt also apologized for his response to sexual abuse allegations against priests in his archdiocese.

“Words cannot express the sorrow I feel for the victims and survivors of clergy sexual abuse, their families, their friends and our Catholic community,” he said. “In particular, I am sorry for the way the archdiocese, under my leadership, addressed the allegations against Curtis Wehmeyer.”

“As the archbishop, I should have asked more questions, I should have demanded more answers, and I should have insisted those within the archdiocesan administration at the time share more information with each other,” he added. “I am sorry.”

The legal agreement also made public a July 2014 memo from Father Dan Griffith, an archdiocesan priest who was a liaison to the lawyers conducting an independent investigation into Archbishop Nienstedt.

The memo concerned charges of criminal and sexual misconduct against the archbishop, and indicated that former apostolic nuncio to the U.S., Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, had prematurely ordered the end of the investigation and ordered destruction of evidence when he told two auxiliary bishops to destroy their objecting letter to him.

Archbishop Emeritus Nienstedt, who had approved the independent investigation, rejected all the sexual misconduct claims, and contended that the claims came from those who opposed his management decisions and his defense of Catholic teaching, especially on homosexuality.

Father Griffith said in a statement that he stood by his memo and he has confidence in Archbishop Hebda, the New York Times reports.

Previous Post

July 21, 2016

The powerful witness of Iraqi young people at World Youth Day

Next Post

July 21, 2016 Where are the values at the Republican National Convention?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which New Testament book has the most Old Testament quotes?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Matthew Romans Hebrews Revelation