Posts Tagged chancellor
Holding Church Shepherds Accountable / The New York Times
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Pope Francis, Voice of the Faithful on July 22, 2014
When Pope Francis met earlier this month with victims of rape and sexual abuse by priests, he vowed to hold bishops accountable for covering up the scandal instead of confronting it.
“A good place to start is with the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese, where calls are mounting for the resignation of Archbishop John Nienstedt, a warrior against same-sex marriage who, it turns out, is facing accusations that he indulged in improper sexual conduct in the past with priests, seminarians and other men.
“The archbishop has denied the accusations as ‘entirely false,’ saying they date back over 10 years and do not involve minors or criminal conduct. But he felt obliged to hire a law firm to investigate them.
“Meanwhile, his handling of the pedophilia scandal is under fire from all sides. This week (week of July 14), an affidavit from Jennifer Haselberger, the former canon law chancellor for the archdiocese, accused the archbishop and his ranking prelates of systematically ignoring warnings about abusers in a five-year period, while failing to inform civil authorities of possible criminal acts.”
Editorial by The New York Times — Click here to read the rest of this editorial.
Time for +Nienstedt to go / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Clericalism, Voice of the Faithful on July 18, 2014
It is time for Archbishop John Nienstedt to go.
Reading the affidavit of Jennifer Haselberger, the former chancellor of the Archdiocese of St. Paul, is grim. Caveat: A lawyer friend told me that a good defense attorney could drive several trucks through the document and that may be true. But, even if a quarter of what is asserted in that document is true, it is obvious that the Archdiocese of St. Paul has failed to live up to the bishops’ own requirements regarding the protection of children. Instances of suspected child abuse were not reported to the civil authorities. Clergy were not removed from active ministry as required by the Dallas Charter for the Protection of Children. Almost every page of Haselberger’s affidavit illustrates a clerical culture that, when confronted with evidence of proven or potential sexual abuse of a minor, instinctively reacted with the thought, ‘poor Father.”’
By Michael Sean Winters, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this commentary.
Calls for resignation mount for Minnesota archbishop in scandals / The New York Times
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Clericalism, Voice of the Faithful on July 16, 2014
Just two years ago, the Roman Catholic archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis was making headlines as a leader in the battle against same-sex marriage. But for the last year and a half, the archbishop, John C. Nienstedt, has been battling to hold onto his post in the face of a series of scandals, which further deepened on Tuesday (July 15) with the filing of an explosive affidavit by the former chancellor of the archdiocese.
“The troubles started in May 2013 when the accountant for the archdiocese pleaded guilty to stealing more than $670,000 in church funds, and intensified when the chancellor, Jennifer M. Haselberger, quit and went public that autumn with allegations that the archbishop and his inner circle had covered up the actions of pedophile priests in recent years and funneled special payments to them.
“This month brought new revelations, first reported by the Catholic journal Commonweal, that Archbishop Nienstedt had earlier this year commissioned an investigation of himself in response to allegations that he had a series of inappropriate sexual relationships with men, including seminarians and priests he supervised, as he moved up the church’s hierarchy in Detroit and Minnesota.”
By Laurie Goodstein, The New York Times — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Former chancellor: Twin Cities ‘far, far from best practice’ on abuse / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Clericalism, Voice of the Faithful on July 16, 2014
After weeks of depositions from top officials exposing how they handled abusive priests and allegations that arose in the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese, sworn written testimony from a former chancellor pulled back the curtain further to reveal a system ‘far, far from best practice.’
“In a 107-page affidavit made public Tuesday (July 15), Jennifer Haselberger — the canon lawyer whose leaking of documents and files promulgated the region’s current abuse scandal — disputed the accounts of her former coworkers and described in compelling detail the mistakes, oversights and omissions she witnessed during her tenure as chancellor of canonical affairs.
“At one point, Haselberger characterized the archdiocese as having a ‘cavalier attitude towards the safety of other children.’”
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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