MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press
By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 05/28/2014
A former top deputy of the Twin Cities archdiocese said he suggested last fall that Archbishop John Nienstedt resign in the wake of allegations that leadership mishandled clergy sexual abuse cases.
The Rev. Peter Laird, former vicar general and moderator of the curia, said in a May 12 deposition that resignation was “among options” he suggested to Nienstedt in late September or early October.
Laird himself resigned Oct. 3. Ten days earlier, Minnesota Public Radio reported the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis possessed but did not give to police information regarding convicted St. Paul priest Curtis Wehmeyer’s sexual behavior.
The media report prompted his resignation, and his suggestion that Nienstedt do the same, Laird said.
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