Mistakes Have Been Made
By Emily Gurnon
Archbishop John Nienstedt admitted to Roman Catholics on Thursday that "some serious mistakes have been made" in handling clergy sex-abuse cases. The archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis apologized to victims of abusive priests and promised to institute changes, including "a review of all clergy files by an outside firm." In a statement titled "My pledge to restore trust," Nienstedt said "sweeping changes" made in every diocese after the 2002 U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Dallas led him and others to hope that clergy sex abuse was a thing of the past. "Yet, the painful reality is that abuse did not stop in 2002. This is unacceptable," he wrote in the statement, posted on the website of the Catholic Spirit, the official publication of the archdiocese. "As the head of this local church, I know that the ultimate responsibility here is mine," Nienstedt wrote. "My heart is heavy with the agony that these errors have caused." The statement comes less than a month after media reports, spurred by an archdiocese whistleblower, disclosed that top archdiocese officials failed to report possible criminal activity to police regarding former Mahtomedi priest Jonathan Shelley's computer and did not alert law enforcement or parishioners to a St. Paul priest who exhibited "troublesome" sexual behavior. The latter, Curtis Wehmeyer, was later convicted of molesting two boys. While he claimed responsibility, Nienstedt couched his message in sometimes vague, passive terms. He said that i since the media disclosures, "I have come to understand more clearly what has happened to bring us to this point." The new task force he ordered, which began its work Oct. 9, will review policies in place to address clergy misconduct, Nienstedt said. "There is reason to question whether or not the policies and procedures were uniformly followed," he wrote. "There is also a question as to the prudence of the judgments that have been made." He said he and his senior leadership "have been searching for answers. ... And while there is more to do, we have arrived at a better picture of the truth." An archdiocese spokesman said Thursday that the outside law firm that will be looking at clergy files began its work 10 days ago. The reviewers will look for "any indication of clergy misconduct, illegal behavior, financial mismanagement and possible violations of canon law," said James Accurso. Accurso did not name the firm, saying he did not know who it is. In addition, the archdiocese is interviewing several pro fessional firms that have performed clergy file review on a national basis, Accurso said. David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said in a written response that Nienstedt's outside review of all clergy files would merely prolong the secrecy. "Soon the number of hand-picked, church-paid lawyers looking at predators' files will go from six or eight to 12 or 14. That's not progress," Clohessy said. "Those files -- all of them -- must be turned over to law enforcement." Public scrutiny of the archdiocese has been growing in recent weeks. Two Twin Cities priests criticized archdiocesan officials in their church bulletins. The Rev. Bill Deziel, pastor at the Church of St. Peter in North St. Paul, wrote this week that the way abuse allegations have been handled by church officials is even more disturbing to many parishioners than the abuse itself. "Things can't seem to be more twisted and out of hand," he wrote. "It is now clear that only outside, independent investigating can get to the bottom of this and can begin to get us out of this mess." Archdiocese officials have served well, but "when things get this bad, sometimes a fresh start (in leadership) is needed for all involved." Deziel backed off from that position in a response to Nienstedt's statement. "The archbishop is offering humble, thoughtful and decisive leadership," Deziel wrote Thursday. "I fully support him and his team and these meaningful steps that he is implementing to ensure that no children are ever put in harm's way by abusive clergy." The Rev. Michael Anderson of the Church of St. Bernard in St. Paul defended archdiocese whistleblower Jennifer Haselberger in his Oct. 13 bulletin. "She has been described by archdiocesan lawyers as a 'disgruntled employee,' " Anderson wrote. "I think she is a heroic person who could no longer live with a duplicitous system that said publicly that it was following strict guidelines to protect children but privately withheld information and continued to move predators from parish to parish." Haselberger, the former chancellor for canonical affairs for the archdiocese, provided internal documents to the media that exposed officials' actions in the cases of Shelley and Wehmeyer, among others. She resigned in protest in April. The comments by Deziel and Anderson were highly unusual, said Charles Reid Jr., a professor at the University of St. Thomas Law School. "I think it takes tremendous courage for a priest to speak up," Reid said. "Because the priesthood is an intensely closed hierarchical system. They're lifelong friends. They're family to each other. And they're all under the direction of the bishop, who stands in the place of the Apostles." Read Archbishop John Nienstedt's statement online at bit.ly/1akLAjl. Contact: egurnon@pioneerpress.com
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