Twin Cities Archdiocese Resignations Make Way for Healing, Change, Church Leaders Say
By Elizabeth Mohr and Sarah Horner
The walls were closing in on the archdiocese. Child sexual abuse lawsuits. An investigation into the archbishop. Bankruptcy. Criminal charges. And now a Vatican tribunal to punish bishops who covered up abuses. On Monday, two top officials of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis stepped down. Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche said they are resigning, a rare occurrence within the Catholic hierarchy. The announcement came 10 days after the Ramsey County attorney's office filed a 43-page criminal complaint, detailing the alleged roles of church officials - including Nienstedt, 68, and Piche, 57 - in protecting a predatory priest. In a statement, Nienstedt said: "In order to give the archdiocese a new beginning amidst the many challenges we face, I have submitted my resignation. My leadership has unfortunately drawn attention away from the good works of (Christ's) Church and those who perform them. Thus, my decision to step down." Piche said the people of the archdiocese "need healing and hope. I was getting in the way of that, and so I had to resign." The Rev. Bernard Hebda, currently coadjutor archbishop of Newark, N.J., has been appointed apostolic administrator for the Twin Cities archdiocese. He will lead the church, alongside Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens, until Pope Francis appoints Nienstedt's replacement. "This has been a painful process," a somber Cozzens said at a brief news conference Monday outside the archdiocesan headquarters in St. Paul.
"A change in leadership offers us an opportunity for greater healing and the ability to move forward." He said the church remains committed to "create safe environments for all children and to bring just resolution to the claims against the archdiocese." He left without answering questions. The archbishop's resignation did not come as a surprise for many in the Twin Cities Catholic community, where Nienstedt's tenure was peppered with controversy. He consolidated parishes as a money-saving effort and publicly waded into the same-sex marriage debate. Calls for his resignation stepped up in 2013, with accusations that archdiocesan officials were complicit in cover-ups of clergy sex abuse.
Nienstedt, the state's highest-ranking Catholic leader, was the face of the church and, thus, the symbol of the controversy. Many hope his resignation will be a turning point for the church. "My sense is that a lot of people expected this not because everyone thinks he is guilty of gross misconduct or anything like that, but because whatever actually happened at the chancery, he is too closely connected with it to be the person who resolves it," said Robert Kennedy, chair of the department of Catholic studies at the University of St. Thomas. Nienstedt came to the Twin Cities in 2008 as successor to Archbishop Harry Flynn. Since 2001, Nienstedt had been bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm in southern Minnesota.
In 2014, Nienstedt ordered an independent investigation in response to allegations that he had past inappropriate sexual relationships or contact with other men - something he's denied. Attorneys from the law firm Greene Espel said they concluded their investigation in August. The findings have not been disclosed. In an interview, Nienstedt in July said that he inherited the cover-up scandal and that he believed his predecessors and his staff had handled the problems. Recent court filings suggest Nienstedt knew more than he was letting on. The criminal charges filed June 5 against the archdiocese's corporation allege that Nienstedt and Piche knew a priest was a sexual predator and had violated church policies.
Rather than contacting police about the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, the charges say, Nienstedt and other church officials ignored reports or did little to intervene. Wehmeyer, 50, is serving a prison term for molesting two boys from the Parish of the Blessed Sacrament on St. Paul's East Side while he was pastor there in 2010; criminal molestation charges are pending in Chippewa County, Wis. Less than a week after the charges were filed against the archdiocese, it was announced during the annual assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that Pope Francis had created a tribunal at the Vatican to hear cases of bishops accused of covering up for priests who sexually abused children. It's unclear how long Nienstedt's resignation may have been in the works, but it's clear that recent events played a role. Jennifer Haselberger, the archdiocese's former chancellor for canonical affairs who blew the whistle on its alleged misconduct, said the information in the criminal complaint was a tipping point. "When that became public, all of a sudden whatever support (Nienstedt) had, especially among other bishops, probably dried up immediately," Haselberger said. She said she suspects Nienstedt was "pushed" out by church leadership. The Vatican said Nienstedt and Piche resigned under a provision of canon law that states that a bishop "who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation from office." "The walls were closing in," said Charles Reid, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas. "There's no escape. This was the only escape." It's rare for bishops to resign for reasons other than old age or declining health. In April, the Vatican announced the resignation of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., Bishop Robert Finn, the first bishop to be criminally convicted in 2012 for failing to report a priest suspected of child abuse. And in 2002, Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law resigned, under fire for mishandling cases of clerical sex abuse in his archdiocese. "These things are rare and are meant to be rare," Reid said. "The church law means to keep bishops in office permanently. They're supposed to be permanent representatives of the apostles here on earth - for their time in office." Reid added: "It's symbolically important for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis because it's a fresh start, a clean break." It's unclear what roles Nienstedt and Piche could next have within the Catholic Church. Hebda will maintain his role in the Newark archdiocese, where he was appointed in 2013 when Newark Archbishop John J. Myers faced criticism for his handling of abusive priests. Hebda is slated to succeed Myers when he retires in June 2016. An outsider without ties to the local Catholic community, Hebda was heralded by some as a wise choice to help the troubled archdiocese. A canon and civil lawyer, Hebda's resume includes working as a priest in Pittsburgh and serving as bishop in the Gaylord Diocese in Michigan. He also served for 13 years on the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, which interprets canon law. "He has a great reputation," Haselberger said. "I also think he has a reputation for having a lot of skills regarding financing, so I think everything he brings to the situation is exactly what we need, as the archdiocese attempts to deal not only with the civil petition and pending criminal charges, but also the ongoing bankruptcy." In a letter posted on the archdiocese website, Hebda wrote, "The law of the Church reminds us that an administrator is not to introduce change, but rather to facilitate the smooth continuation of the ordinary and essential activities of the Church, while advancing those positive initiatives to which the archdiocese is already committed." He's expected to arrive in the Twin Cities sometime this week. Auxiliary Bishop Cozzens said Monday, "Archbishop Hebda and I will work closely to bring our archdiocese into a new day. " Elizabeth Mohr can be reached at 651-228-5162. Follow her at twitter.com/LizMohr. Sarah Horner can be reached at 651-228-5539. Follow her at twitter.com/hornsarah.
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