Archbishop John Nienstedt of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and one of
his deputies, auxiliary Bishop Lee Piche, resigned over their links
to Curtis Wehmeyer.
Wehmeyer, who has been dismissed from the priesthood, is serving a
five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2012 to criminal
sexual conduct with two minors and possessing child pornography.
The pontiff accepted the resignations the week after approving an
unprecedented Vatican tribunal intended to judge bishops for
covering up or failing to report sexual abuse, which has caused
worldwide scandal for more than a decade.
Minnesota prosecutor John Choi brought the charges against the
archdiocese on June 5. Hundreds of civil cases have already been
filed against it for allegedly failing to supervise priests or
ignoring sexual abuse by the clergy.
Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability.org, an independent group
that helps tackle the issue in the Catholic Church, said the
resignations were "disgracefully overdue."
"Today's news from Minnesota is a sobering reminder that the real
source of accountability in the Catholic abuse crisis continues to
reside outside the church," Doyle said.
"Nienstedt and Piche would still be in power if not for (Choi's)
recent indictment of the archdiocese."
Nienstedt said he was leaving because his leadership had "drawn
attention away from the good works (of the Church)."
"I leave with a clear conscience knowing that my team and I have put
in place solid protocols to ensure the protection of minors and
vulnerable adults," he said in a statement.
Piche said people of the archdiocese needed healing and hope. "I was
getting in the way of that and so I had to resign," he said in a
statement.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), called for
a detailed investigation of the alleged cover-up.
"There were dozens of Church staff who could and should have stopped
many of these abusers' crimes by simply calling 911. But they
protected themselves and their jobs by staying silent. They too
should be ousted by the Vatican," SNAP said.
Choi described "a disturbing institutional and systemic pattern of
behavior" stretching back decades at the highest level of leadership
in the archdiocese, which has 187 parishes and 90 schools.
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On Monday, Choi said in a statement that while the resignations were
an affirmative step, the criminal investigation continues.
"As we have said, the goals of our actions are to hold the
archdiocese accountable, seek justice for the victims and our
community, and to take appropriate steps to ensure that what we have
alleged and intend to prove about the past conduct of church
officials will never be repeated," Choi said.
Victims told investigators that Wehmeyer gave them beer and
marijuana or cigarettes, showed them pornographic images and touched
their genitals in a camper parked on parish grounds or while
camping, according to the complaint.
He is also awaiting trial on charges of assaulting a third child.
The archdiocese was charged with three misdemeanor counts of
contributing to the need for protection or services for the minors
who were the victims of sexual abuse and three misdemeanor counts of
contributing to the minors' delinquency or status as juvenile petty
offenders. The archdiocese also faces a related civil complaint.
Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Bernard Anthony Hebda of Newark as
apostolic administrator to run the archdiocese until a new
archbishop is appointed.
(Additional reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; Editing by
Angus MacSwan and Doina Chiacu)
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