Attempts in the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese to take hold of a
snowballing sexual abuse scandal have done little to quiet a growing
clamor for a change in leadership.
Since the end of summer, Archbishop John Nienstedt and his
predecessors, as well as other archdiocesan leaders, have drawn intense
criticism for their handling of allegations of clergy sexual abuse of
minors in recent decades, particularly when they were presented with
suspicious behavior or apparent evidence of abuse.
Amid a stream of media reports -- largely fueled by accounts and
documents from former archdiocesan canon lawyer Jennifer Haselberger (NCR,
Oct. 25-Nov. 7) -- Nienstedt's first response came in appointing
Dominican Fr. Reginald Whitt vicar of ministerial standards, and
assigning him to select an independent lay task force to review
archdiocesan policies and procedures related to abuse allegations.
But the shine of that move soon wore off after a letter Whitt sent
Oct. 21 to archdiocesan clergy led to questions about how independent
the six-member task force would be.
Addressing access to individual
priest files, he wrote: "Access to these files will be within my
control, and limited only to what is necessary for the Task Force to be
able to make an informed decision with respect to their policy review."
Whitt told NCR Oct. 29 that the use of the word "control"
"probably was injudicious of me," and that his role required ensuring
the six members of the committee received documents they requested. "I'm
not going to try to obstruct them. My job is to facilitate their
investigation," he said.
The task force will have access to documents pertaining to policies
and procedures for preventing, investigating and responding to clergy
sexual misconduct; protecting minors and vulnerable adults from abuse;
and all issues related directly or indirectly to clergy sexual
misconduct. They can review specific priest files to see if policies
were followed, but not all clergy files.
"If they see something they want, I will make it my business to try to get it for them," Whitt told NCR.
"If I think that it goes beyond the scope of their investigation, then
I'll have to talk to the chair of the task force. We'll work out exactly
which way to go on that."
Whitt, a canon law professor at the University of St. Thomas in St.
Paul, had drawn heat earlier when it became public he shared living
quarters at the school with Fr. Michael Keating, who was sued Oct. 14
for allegedly groping a 13-year-old girl (now 28) and sending her emails
that were seductive in nature. Denying the claims through his lawyer,
Keating, 57, has taken a temporary leave of absence from the university.
The fallout has led others at St. Thomas to resign. Retired
Archbishop Harry Flynn, whose tenure (1995-2008) overlapped with the
time frames of the scrutinized abuse investigations, resigned from the
university's board of trustees Oct. 17.
Nearly two weeks earlier, former
vicar general Fr. Kevin McDonough resigned from the board. McDonough's
assessments regarding several priests -- including Fr. Curtis Wehmeyer,
serving five years in prison for criminal sexual conduct involving two
boys; and Fr. Jonathan Shelley, alleged to have pornographic computer
images of boys that a private investigator hired by the archdiocese
called "borderline illegal" -- have become focal points of the
accusations.
Those resignations followed Fr. Peter Laird's stepping down as vicar
general Oct. 3, and preceded an Oct. 29 lawsuit accusing St. Louis
Archbishop Robert Carlson of not reporting an abuse claim while a Twin
Cities auxiliary bishop in the 1980s.
So far, Nienstedt has yet to speak publicly about the allegations,
responding once in writing to pre-submitted questions from local media.
The archdiocese did not respond before press time to questions from NCR.
Instead, Nienstedt's most extensive comments came in an Oct. 24 column
in the archdiocesan newspaper. Under the title "My pledge to restore
trust," he said the accusations give cause "for sadness, confusion and
anger."
"The first thing that must be acknowledged is that over the last
decade some serious mistakes have been made," he said, pointing to an
apparent non-uniform adherence to abuse-related archdiocesan policies,
and "a question as to the prudence of the judgments that have been
made."
He vowed to impose a more rigorous review of priests before
assignments, and recommitted his staff to "following a core set of
principles in all that we do." In addition, he announced an outside firm
would review all clergy files, to verify his claim that no known
abusers remain in ministry.
Still, for some the pledges fell short.
In his Oct. 27 homily, Fr. Stephen O'Gara of the Church of the
Assumption in St. Paul attributed the scandal to arrogance, and called
for Catholics to demand Nienstedt stop speaking from afar, come clean
and address questions in a public forum.
"Tell us the truth. Then maybe, with that truth, we can forgive," he said.
The same day Nienstedt's column was published, the local Catholic
Coalition for Church Reform issued a vote of no confidence in his
leadership and called for the United States' papal nuncio, Archbishop
Carlo Maria Viganò, to consult with local Catholics in finding a
replacement.
Another group has launched a petition calling for
Nienstedt's removal.
Their calls echoed earlier refrains from priests.
In his Oct. 13 bulletin, Fr. Michael Anderson of the Church of St.
Bernard in St. Paul said that Nienstedt's words "ring hollow" and that
the archdiocese didn't view civil authorities as allies in protecting
children.
"Things can't seem to be more twisted and out of hand," St. Paul
pastor Fr. Bill Deziel wrote in the bulletin for the Church of St. Peter
a week later, citing "apparent lack of good judgment and common sense"
as cause for "a do-over with our archdiocesan leadership."
"Sometimes a fresh start is needed for all involved," he said.