Archdiocese Secretly Hires a New Attorney It is unclear if it was Nienstedt or Piché who made the decision to hire the Minneapolis high-powered, criminal defense attorney, Peter Wold of the Wold Morrison Law Firm to complete the Nienstedt investigation. Early news reports say it was Piché, but later reports claim it was the Archbishop.
Jul 01, 2014 · Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis is being investigated for “multiple allegations” of inappropriate sexual conduct with seminarians, priests, and other men, according to the archbishop’s former top canon lawyer, Jennifer Haselberger. The investigation is being conducted by a law firm hired by the archdiocese.
Jun 19, 2015 · As young priests, Vigano and Nienstedt had worked together in the same office at the Vatican in the early 1980s. ... The archdiocese hires Minneapolis law firm Greene Espel to …
Jun 17, 2015 · Jennifer Haselberger, a former chancery canon lawyer who warned Nienstedt about Wehmeyer, said she was interviewed Monday by the county attorney’s office “regarding their ongoing investigation ...
After he resigned his position in Minnesota, Nienstedt returned to Michigan, where he has a home on Lake Huron.
Reverend Bernard Anthony Hebda J.C.L. J.D.Bernard HebdaThe Most Reverend Bernard Anthony Hebda J.C.L. J.D.Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda prays the Eucharistic Prayer at a Mass offered to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the founding of Saint John Vianney College Seminary (St. Paul, Minnesota)ArchdioceseSaint Paul and MinneapolisAppointedMarch 24, 201612 more rows
The archdiocese has 188 parish churches in twelve counties of Minnesota. It counts in its membership an approximate total of 750,000 people....Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archidiœcesis Paulopolitana et MinneapolitanaArchbishopBernard HebdaAuxiliary BishopsJoseph A. Williams25 more rows
According to official Catholic directories, the number of Catholic churches in Minnesota fell from 720 in 2010 to 639 in 2017. The Archdiocese of St.Aug 7, 2018
Catholicism comes second, with 22 percent of Minnesotans counting themselves as disciples. This is also comparable to national stats: about 71 percent claim Christianity, with roughly 46 percent Protestant and 21 percent Catholic.Dec 24, 2015
The term 'archdiocese' is not found in Canon Law, with the terms "diocese" and "episcopal see" being applicable to the area under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of any bishop. If the title of archbishop is granted on personal grounds to a diocesan bishop, his diocese does not thereby become an archdiocese.
In many Christian denominations, an archbishop (/ˌɑːrtʃˈbɪʃəp/, via Latin archiepiscopus, from Greek αρχιεπίσκοπος, from αρχι-, 'chief', and επί 'over'+σκοπος 'seer') is a bishop of higher rank or office.
When asked how they voted and why, just two of Minnesota's six Catholic bishops offered public disclosure: St.Jul 4, 2021
Paul and Minneapolis is being investigated for “multiple allegations” of inappropriate sexual conduct with seminarians, priests, and other men, according to the archbishop’s former top canon lawyer, Jennifer Haselberger. The investigation is being conducted by a law firm hired by the archdiocese. Nienstedt denies the allegations.
That's because the task force "was established to review the archdiocesan policies on clergy misconduct toward minors ," Nienstedt said.
Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens read a statement about Archbishop John Nienstedt's resignation Monday. The story of Nienstedt's efforts to limit the investigation comes from interviews with more than a dozen people in Minnesota, Michigan and Oregon with direct knowledge of the inquiry.
The sworn statements accused Nienstedt of inappropriate behavior, according to people who read them, including sexual advances toward at least two priests. The unraveling of an archbishop.
MPR News publishes the first of its multi-year investigation into the archdiocese's handling of clergy sexual abuse. The story focuses on the Wehmeyer case. Public reaction is swift. | Read more.
The Greene Espel lawyers faced a tough job. Diocesan priests take a vow of obedience to their bishop, and even with Nienstedt's approval, it wouldn't be easy to persuade priests to talk about allegations of sexual sins. In the Catholic hierarchy, sexual sins are carefully guarded secrets. Disclosing those secrets can be risky. As long as no one talks, everyone's secrets are safe.
They praise him for his candor, empathy and commitment to serving the church. Tiffany also worked in the chancery with Nienstedt for several years as director of the archdiocese's Office of Priestly Life and Ministry. "The archbishop is himself a scandal," Tiffany told MPR News in an interview last month.
Wehmeyer pleads guilty to charges of criminal sexual conduct and possession of child pornography. He was accused of sexual contact with two brothers when they were 12 and 14 and attended Church of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul. | Read more.
Griffith, who served as the liaison between the archdiocese and the Greene Espel attorneys, said he had no role in the second investigation, other than being interviewed by the attorney. Wold confirmed to MPR News that the archdiocese was his client, but declined to comment further.
John Clayton Nienstedt (born March 18, 1947) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the eighth Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis from 2008 to 2015. He previously served as Bishop of New Ulm from 2001 to 2007.
Nienstedt was ordained a priest on July 27, 1974, in the United States. He then served as an associate pastor at Guardian Angels Parish in Clawson until 1976. He became secretary to Cardinal John Francis Dearden and a part-time professor of moral theology at St. John's Provincial Seminary in Plymouth in 1977.
Nienstedt upholds the Catholic teaching of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. He stated that Satan is behind sodomy, abortion, contraception, pornography and the redefinition of marriage. He opposes embryonic stem cell research involving discarded human embryo stem cell lines, and later bar -closing times.
After he resigned his position in Minnesota, Nienstedt returned to Michigan, where he has a home on Lake Huron. In 2016, he served briefly as substitute priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo, but quit after only a week due to objections from local parishioners in Battle Creek. He moved again in 2016 to Napa Valley, California, where he worked as an independent contractor for the Napa Institute, editing conference proceedings for publication. He also participated in their annual conference and said Mass. On 15 August 2018, after being criticized for its relationship with Nienstedt while condemning the Church's failure to hold prelates like Cardinal Theodore McCarrick accountable, the Institute announced that Nienstedt had "stepped aside" from his responsibilities, and that it was understood that the Institute had been advised that "there are no restrictions on Archbishop Nienstedt’s ministry".
Decisions regarding buildings and other property of the merged parishes were made by local leaders in consultation with the archbishop and a representative body of priests. These and two layer mergers reduced the number of parishes from 213 in October 2010 to 188 in July 2013.
Positions on public issues. In October 2012 Nienstedt used more than US$ 600,000 in archdiocesan funds to promote the approval of Minnesota Amendment 1 to ban same-sex marriage in the state. Minnesotans rejected the amendment at the polls on November 6, 2012, by five percentage points.
Early life and education. John Nienstedt was born in Detroit, Michigan, to John C. and Elizabeth S. (née Kennedy) Nienstedt. The second oldest of six children, he has two brothers, Richard and Michael, and three sisters, Barbara, Mary, and Corinne. He graduated in 1969 from Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit with Bachelor of Arts degree, ...
A year and a half ago, according to a series of exhaustive, explosive interviews with Minnesota Public Radio, Haselberger discovered the file and began pressing for action. After a number of months, Nienstedt drafted a letter to the Vatican noting that the images were found during Flynn’s tenure and expressing apprehension that turning them over to civil authorities “could expose the Archdiocese, as well as myself, to criminal prosecution.”
Beth Hawkins covered education and other public-policy topics for MinnPost from its launch in 2007 to October of 2015, when she left to write for Education Post, a nonprofit based in Chicago.