MINNESOTA
Legal Examiner
Posted by Mike Bryant
July 19, 2015
There is a longer story today in the Minneapolis Tribune about what is the latest in the Nienstedt Case. Looking at it, there clearly is a lot of issues up in the air. What struck me was the end of the article:
What the archdiocese decides to do with the investigation is being monitored by Twin Cities Catholics as well as national Catholic authorities, who say the St. Paul situation is extremely rare.
Facing scores of priest abuse claims, bankruptcy, civil and criminal charges — and the Nienstedt investigation controversy — the archdiocese is in uncharted terrain.
“I rarely say anything is unique in the Catholic Church, but this is a pretty unique situation,” said the Rev. Thomas Reese, senior analyst for National Catholic Reporter.
I got to ask: What is unique?
There are scores of abuse cases across the world. Thanks to the Child Victims Act survivors in Minnesota can do something about them.
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is one of a number of diocese that have or are using the bankruptcy courts to limit their liability.
Civil claims have for the most part been the only way that survivors have been able to force the Church to do anything.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.