The action 'is not intended to convey an indication or presumption of guilt'
Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St Paul and Minneapolis has said that
until “all open allegations are resolved,” his predecessor, Archbishop
John Nienstedt, is not free to exercise public ministry in the
archdiocese.
Archbishop Hebda released a letter to the faithful of the archdiocese
to clarify the status of the prelate. The 11-member Archdiocesan
Ministerial Review Board, which addresses allegations of clergy
misconduct, was consulted and recommended that Archbishop Hebda publicly
clarify that Archbishop Nienstedt, like any priest facing similar
allegations, is not free to engage in public ministry in this
archdiocese until pending allegations are resolved.
Archbishop Hebda said he agrees with the recommendation. The restriction took effect on December 13.
“While this may cause some pain, my hope is that this decision
prompts further action by those with authority over Archbishop Nienstedt
to resolve this question,” Archbishop Hebda said in the letter, which
also announced new steps the archdiocese is taking to minister to clergy
sexual abuse survivors.
The action “is not intended to convey an indication or presumption of guilt,” Archbishop Hebda said.
The clarification of Archbishop Nienstedt’s local public ministry
restrictions refers to a 2014 investigation into allegations that he had
engaged in sexual misconduct with adults as a priest in Detroit and
Rome, and as a bishop of New Ulm. Archdiocesan leaders engaged two
separate law firms in the investigation.
Archbishop Nienstedt, who resigned his position as leader of the
Archdiocese St Paul and Minneapolis in June 2015, has maintained that he
is innocent of the allegations.
The investigation was forwarded to the US nunciature but has not been made public.
“As far as I know, any effort by the Vatican to further address the
allegations was suspended in June 2015 when Archbishop Nienstedt
resigned his office,” Archbishop Hebda said in the letter. “Thus, the
matter remains unresolved for the accusers, for Archbishop Nienstedt and
for the public. I share the frustration that is felt by them, and
believe this situation highlights the need for a better-defined process
and independent mechanism to resolve allegations against bishops.”
While the 2014 investigation involved allegations of sexual
misconduct with adult males, the letter pointed out an allegation
against Archbishop Nienstedt involving minors surfaced only after his
resignation.
The allegation was made not to the archdiocese but to the Ramsey
County Attorney’s Office. It became public in 2016 when the relevant
documentation was released by Ramsey County.
At that time, Archbishop Hebda, who has led the archdiocese since
Archbishop Nienstedt’s resignation, shared the released materials with
the nunciature.
According to the allegation, Archbishop Nienstedt, as bishop of New
Ulm, undressed in front of two teenage boys at a hotel during World
Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, in 2005. The three had been caught in a
rainstorm, and, according to the allegation, Archbishop Nienstedt
invited the boys to his room, where Archbishop Nienstedt undressed and
then the boys undressed in front of him before putting on hotel robes as
they waited for their clothes to dry.
The individual said that at the time he felt uncomfortable with the
situation, and that he told his mother about it when he returned home
because he thought it was inappropriate.
According to Archbishop Hebda’s letter, Archbishop Nienstedt denies the situation occurred.
The restrictions on Archbishop Nienstedt’s local ministry reflect the
approach archdiocesan leaders would take with any priest facing similar
allegations, Archbishop Hebda said. “My opinion is that this allegation
needs to be fully addressed before a definitive resolution of
Archbishop Nienstedt’s suitability for ministry can be made,” he said.
After serving as bishop of New Ulm from 2001-2007, Archbishop
Nienstedt was appointed coadjutor archbishop of St Paul and Minneapolis
in 2007 and became its archbishop in 2008.
He resigned in June 2015 after the Ramsey County attorney charged the
archdiocese for failing to protect children in the case of former
priest Curtis Wehmeyer, who has been convicted of abusing three boys in
2010-11.
When the charges against the archdiocese were dismissed in 2016, the
Ramsey County Attorney’s Office publicly released documents related to
their investigation of the archdiocese. Among them was a summary of a
December 29, 2015, interview with an individual who described the World
Youth Day situation.
In the letter, Archbishop Hebda, who has led the archdiocese since
Archbishop Nienstedt’s resignation, said he has been repeatedly asked
whether there are restrictions on Archbishop Nienstedt’s ministry.
“My answer has always been that although I do not know of any, I am
the wrong person to ask: bishops report to the Holy Father, not to each
other. I have no general juridical authority over Archbishop Nienstedt
or any other bishop outside the archdiocese,” he said. “I can, however,
exercise some control over the types of public ministry permitted in
this archdiocese,” which led him to restrict Archbishop Nienstedt’s
local ministry.
Archbishop Nienstedt has continued to exercise ministry outside of
the archdiocese, most recently concelebrating the December 4 funeral of
Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, Wisconsin.
From 2016 to 2018, he was a contractor with the California-based Napa
Institute. The institute announced on August 15 that the archbishop
would no longer be serving it.
The local restrictions put in place by Archbishop Hebda have no
effect on Archbishop Nienstedt’s ministry outside of the archdiocese.
In the Archdiocese of Detroit, where he resides, Archbishop
Nienstedt, at the request of Archbishop Allen Vigneron, has already
agreed “to abstain from public ministry in the Archdiocese of Detroit.”
That agreement was made public by the Detroit Archdiocese on October 24.
In a December 14 statement, Archbishop Nienstedt called Archbishop
Hebda’s decision to remove him from ministry “appropriate,” given the
archdiocese’s protocols, “even though I am not currently practicing
public ministry in the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis.”
“I welcome an investigation into this allegation, as I have welcomed
all impartial investigations into allegations made against me,” he said.
“At the same time, I do deny the veracity of this allegation. That
being said, I don’t want to speak poorly of the men making these
accusations.”
He continued: “It’s also difficult to defend myself because these
allegations are of the ‘he said, he said’ nature. It is my word against
the accusers and, as much as they seem to want to discredit me, I don’t
want to harm them. I am relieved, however, that Archbishop Hebda will be
sharing the 2014 archdiocesan investigation to an independent review
board. I welcome an impartial look at the facts and the opportunity to
defend myself.”
In his letter, Archbishop Hebda emphasised his strong support for an
independent, national lay-led review board to address misconduct
allegations against bishops. The structure was one of the items the US
bishops discussed but – at the request of the Holy See – did not move to
vote on during their fall meeting in Baltimore.
“In order to fully address bishop accountability, the Church needs a
national board empowered to act, much as our well-respected Ministerial
Review Board has been empowered to address allegations involving our
priests and deacons,” he said. “The Church cannot fulfil its mission
without public trust.”
Archbishop Hebda hopes such a structure could definitively address
the allegations against Archbishop Nienstedt. He said he would share the
entire 2014 archdiocesan investigation of Archbishop Nienstedt with
such a review board, and that until it is created, he will continue to
advocate for it.
“In this way, my hope is that resolution of the allegations against
bishops and any additional investigation can be handled in a way that is
fair to all and worthy of public trust,” he said.
“I share the disappointment of many that more progress has not been
made at the national and international levels to address bishop
accountability,” he continued. “It is my prayer and hope that the
February meeting Pope Francis is convening with bishops from around the
world produces tangible results.
“We need a review board at the national or regional level … with the
authority and credibility to investigate allegations of misconduct
against bishops and make fitness-for-ministry recommendations to the
Holy Father.”
Archbishop Hebda released the letter as the archdiocese nears the end
of a nearly four-year process of reorganisation under Chapter 11 of the
US Bankruptcy Code. In January 2015, the archdiocese filed for
bankruptcy protection in the wake of mounting claims of clergy sexual
abuse dating back as far as the 1940s.
In the end, 453 claims were filed against the archdiocese during the
claim-filing period, most of which were related to suits 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, and the reorganisation process is expected to be completed
by Christmas.
In the letter, Archbishop Hebda outlined several additional efforts
the archdiocese is taking “to change the culture that fostered the
clergy abuse crisis,” including a new position in the archdiocese’s
Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment that aims to
“ensure that the voice of survivors of clergy sexual abuse will be
regularly heard within archdiocesan leadership,” he said.
He also reiterated that any survivor who at any time entered into a
confidentiality provision with the archdiocese is released from that
provision. He also restated his willingness to meet with any survivor
who would like to do so.
Archbishop Hebda also said that plans are underway in the archdiocese
for “spiritual outreach” in 2019 that will “include opportunities, both
at the parish and archdiocesan levels, for reparation, spiritual
renewal and prayers for healing.”
Maria Wiering is editor of The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
