Shortly after becoming coadjutor archbishop of the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese in 2007, John Nienstedt held a meeting with core staff officials to discuss the state of safe environments in the archdiocese.

“During that two-hour meeting, ‘it didn’t occur to me,’ the now-archbishop said in a deposition released Tuesday (Apr. 22), to ask for a copy of the John Jay list — those priests the archdiocese listed as credibly accused in the 2004 John Jay College of Criminal Justice study on clergy sex abuse.

“Nor did it occur to Nienstedt to document the names of priests currently enrolled in a monitoring program or to record any of the discussion among his delegate for safe environment, Fr. Kevin McDonough; his chancellors for civil and canonical affairs; and him.

“‘It was verbal,’ the archbishop said.

“Non-documentation would become an occasional norm for him and McDonough when discussing sensitive matters, Nienstedt said.”

By Brian Roewe, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.