Archbishop Nienstedt sought to limit investigation of his conduct, report charges
June 19, 2015
Archbishop John Nienstedt, who resigned his week from his post as Archbishop of St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota, had earlier tried to limit an investigation into charges of personal misconduct that had been lodged against him, according to an investigative report by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR).
MPR, which has been highly critical of Archbishop Nienstedt, reports that in April 2014, all of the archbishop’s top advisers encouraged him to step down. In fact, the report continues, two auxiliary bishops traveled to Washington, DC, to tell the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, that Archbishop Nienstedt should be replaced. In fact the archbishop remained in office for over a year.
According to MPR, as independent investigation into the charges against Archbishop Nienstedt heated up, the scope of the investigation was abruptly curtailed. A second, separate investigation was later undertaken.
Bishop Lee Piché, an auxiliary who oversaw the investigators (and who, like the archbishop, resigned this week) said that the archbishop did not block the investigation. The Greene Espel law firm in Minneapolis, which conducted the original investigation, issued a statement to MPR disputing that claim.
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