Posts Tagged Archbishop Bernard Hebda
A new Catholic ministry brings the Eucharist to survivors of sexual abuse / America: The Jesuit Review
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on April 12, 2023
Starting in March 2023, victims of sexual abuse in Saint Paul-Minneapolis who still wish to receive the Eucharist but find it too traumatic to enter a church can have the sacrament brought to them.
By Christopher Parker, America: The Jesuit Review
“In December 2018, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul-Minneapolis emerged from bankruptcy court, one of the largest dioceses to date to go through the process. Over 450 plaintiffs had filed suits against the archdiocese over sexual abuse claims that went back as far as the 1940s. The archdiocese’s reorganization was long and arduous.
“At the time, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said, ‘Our efforts to reach out to those hurt by people in the Church is just beginning and will continue indefinitely, along with our core commitment of creating and maintaining safe environments for all.’
“A new ministry within the archdiocese is doubling down on that commitment. Starting in March 2023, victims of sexual abuse in Saint Paul-Minneapolis who still wish to receive the Eucharist but find it too traumatic to enter a church can have the sacrament brought to them.
“Starting in March 2023, victims of sexual abuse in Saint Paul-Minneapolis who still wish to receive the Eucharist but find it too traumatic to enter a church can have the sacrament brought to them.
“The lay people behind this and other initiatives in the archdiocese are survivors of clerical sexual abuse themselves. In interviews with America, they communicated their hope that, in an archdiocese where the wounds of the sexual abuse crisis are still fresh, they can chart a new path to healing.”
By Christopher Parker, America: The Jesuit Review — Read more …
Vatican authorizes ‘Vos Estis’ investigation into Minnesota bishop Hoeppner / Catholic News Agency in The Pilot
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on September 11, 2019
(Bishop Michael) Hoeppner has been accused of pressuring Ron Vasek, a former diaconal candidate in the diocese, to recant the allegation that he was molested in 1971 by a Crookston priest. (Catholic News Agency in The Pilot)
Bishop Michael Hoeppner is the first sitting U.S. bishop to be investigated under new misconduct protocols introduced by Pope Francis earlier this year.
“Hoeppner, Bishop of Crookston, Minnesota, will be investigated by Minneapolis’ Archbishop Bernard Hebda, on charges that Hoeppner thwarted a police or canonical investigation of clerical sexual misconduct in his diocese.
“‘I have been authorized by the Congregation for Bishops to commence an investigation into allegations that the Most Reverend Michael Hoeppner, the Bishop of Crookston, carried out acts or omissions intended to interfere with or avoid civil or canonical investigations of clerical sexual misconduct in the Diocese of Crookston,’ Hebda told CNA Sept. 10.
“Law enforcement has been notified of the allegations. The allegations were reported to me under the procedures set out in Pope Francis’ recent legislation addressing bishop a’ccountability, the motu proprio ‘Vos estis lux mundi.'”
By J.D. Flynn, Catholic News Agency, in The Pilot — Read more …
Twin Cities’ Hebda: Archdiocese’s response to abuse allegations was a failure not a crime / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on August 4, 2016
In the wake of the dismissal of criminal charges, the head of the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese is maintaining its legal innocence in its response to abuse allegations concerning former priest Curtis Wehmeyer, drawing a distinct line between a failure and a crime.
“In addition, Archbishop Bernard Hebda stated he will not release the investigative report into sexual misconduct allegations raised against his predecessor Archbishop John Nienstedt, calling it ‘unwise’ at this point.
“Hebda made the comments Tuesday (Aug. 2) in a column and interview published in the archdiocesan newspaper. They came nearly two weeks after the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office ended its criminal case against the archdiocese after it agreed to include an admission of wrongdoing into an earlier civil settlement along with several additional provisions.
“The criminal case, brought last summer and soon followed by the resignations of Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché, alleged that the archdiocese failed to protect children in relation to three minors sexually abused by Wehmeyer, a priest in the Twin Cities before he was laicized in March 2015. He is currently in prison in Wisconsin.
“‘To be clear, the archdiocese failed the victims of Curtis Wehmeyer and their family — and for that we are deeply sorry,’ Hebda said in the column published in The Catholic Spirit.
“He continued: ‘A failure, however, isn’t the same as a crime. That is a legal question, not a moral question … Committing a crime implies a criminal intent and is something altogether different from failing.'”
By Brian Roewe, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Voice of the Faithful
A lay movement for governance reform in the Roman Catholic Church, responding to the clergy sexual abuse scandal and supporting survivors.
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