Our View: We Need to See Actions with Clergy

The Times Editorial Board
October 13, 2013

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20131014/OPINION/310140031/Our-View-We-need-see-actions-clergy

Archbishop John Nienstedt of the Minneapolis-St. Paul diocese

As much as leaders of the Catholic Church say they are doing everything possible to confront and combat clergy sex abuse, developments like those rocking the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis speak with much more force.

And sadly they deliver a familiar message: Top church leaders continue to fail to learn from the past, and the result is potentially dangerous priests are unknown to the public.

Witness MPR’s reports the past few weeks about Twin Cities Roman Catholic Church leaders being under fire for the handling of two priests. In both cases, the archdiocese’s own documentation shows leaders did not adequately protect the public and contact law enforcement.

The most troubling involves the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, who pleaded guilty in 2012 to sexually abusing two brothers, ages 12 and 14, and possessing child pornography. At the time the archdiocese proclaimed it had done exactly what it was supposed to do — immediately contact law enforcement when such allegations arose. Prosecuting attorneys even praised those efforts.

But as MPR reported Sept. 23, “top archdiocese leaders knew of Wehmeyer’s sexual compulsions for nearly a decade but kept him in ministry and failed to warn parishioners.” MPR cited Canon lawyer Jennifer Haselberger and files she provided as the basis for its report. Haselberger resigned in April from the archdiocese.

Among the evidence was a 2011 memo written by the former vicar general — the top deputy of the archdiocese — stating he did not want parish employees to know about Wehmeyer’s past.

Meanwhile, St. Paul police last week also reopened an investigation into allegations of child pornography found on computer files once belonging to the Rev. Jonathan Shelley. The reason? Documents obtained by MPR show two archbishops and at least two vicars general knew about these files but did nothing with them for almost a decade.

And please note these cases and the failure by church leaders coalesced with the Catholic Church’s highly visible worldwide efforts to protect children and champion accountability among clergy.

Amid all those developments, the archdiocese last week also announced the creation of a six-member lay task force that will look into the handling of recent priest abuse. Catholic leaders say the group will have full access to church documents and its officials, including Archbishop John Neinstedt, who helped appoint its members. Its reports will be made public.

Such a move certainly sounds promising. Sadly, when it comes to clergy sex abuse, the public has heard enough. Only actions built on lessons from the past will really make a difference going forward.