 |
|
|
|
 Archbishop John Nienstedt of Minnesota has been accused of inappropriate sexual touching.
December 17th, 2013
02:27 PM ET
Archbishop accused of abuse, takes leave of absenceBy Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor (CNN) The Catholic Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis has been accused of inappropriately touching a boy and will take a voluntary leave of absence during an investigation of the incident, the archdiocese announced on Tuesday. Archbishop John Nienstedt learned this weekend that a young man says the Catholic leader "inappropriately touched his buttocks" during a public photo session after a church ceremony, the archdiocese said. The accuser, who is a male minor, says the incident happened in 2009, according to the archdiocese. "I do not know the individual involved; he has not been made known to me," Niendstedt said in a statement posted on the website of his archdiocese. "I presume he is sincere in believing what he claims, but I must say that this allegation is absolutely and entirely false. I have never once engaged in any inappropriate contact with a minor and I have tried to the very best of my ability to serve this Archdiocese and the church faithfully, with honor and due regard for the rights of all, even those with whom I disagree." Nienstedt continued, "my sins do not include any kind of abuse of minors. I have met victims and I know the lasting damage that such abuse causes." "I hope that the investigations can be thorough but quick," the archbishop added. "I already long to be back in public ministry—to be able to serve as the Lord has called me to serve." Nienstedt's decision to take a temporary leave of absence was made after consulting with the Pope's U.S. ambassador, the archdiocese said in a statement on Tuesday. Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché will take over Nienstedt's public duties during the archbishop's absence. The Catholic reform group Voice of the Faithful welcomed Nienstedt's announcement. "This action demonstrates that no one in the Church, whether bishop or employee, should be protected from the consequences of such allegations," the group said in a statement. But Voice of the Faithful and other Catholic reform groups have insisted that Nienstedt should resign permanently for another reason: failing to abide by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' sexual abuse guidelines. The archdiocese has denied any wrongdoing but pledged on December 5 to revamp the way it handles abuse cases and discloses credible accusations against clergy to the public. Earlier this month, under a court order, the archdiocese released the names of 30 priests it believes sexually abused children since 1950. Police in St. Paul have asked victims of clergy sexual abuse to come forward. On Sunday, the archbishop spoke at a church in Edina, Minnesota, and apologized for aspects of the sexual abuse scandal that have roiled his diocese in recent months. “When I arrived here seven years ago, one of the first things I was told was that this whole issue of clerical sex abuse had been taken care of and I didn’t have to worry about it,” Niensted told reporters, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “Unfortunately I believed that. … And so my biggest apology today is to say I overlooked this. I should have investigated it a lot more than I did. When the story started to break at the end of September, I was as surprised as anyone else.” Nienstedt has been a vocal advocate against same-sex marriage, putting him at odds with more liberal Catholics in Minnesota. The state legalized gay marriage in August. "I have taken strong stands on the moral teachings of the Church and been criticized for it," the archbishop said on Tuesday. "I would not have done so if I did not believe those teachings and was personally bound to living up to them in practice."
Next entry »How I learned to love polygamy
« Previous entryRadio preacher who predicted doomsday dies
|
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
|
|
|
There have been thousands of priests who were accused and proven to be guilty. There are also a substantial number (>100 per centers for law and justice) who have been falsely accused.
Give this man his day in court and let him face his accuser before judgment is passed.
If guilty, of course punish him.
If innocent, then restore him.
That's how our justice system is "supposed" to work.
Restoration is not a possibility. The man's reputation is in the toilet forever. In most people's mind an accusation is always true, even if proven to be false. Good bye Bishop.
"who have been falsely accused." Found "Not Guilty" is not the same as having been falsely accused. Some lawyers are just better than others.
Well, this will keep the new Pope out of the news for a while. The new pope should make an example of this archbishop. Draw and quarter him in the Vatican square. Pay-per-view.
Anyone else would have been arrested, booked, fingerprinted, and forced to put up bail money or be stuck in jail. Our justice system is no longer just. Our "elected" officials no longer represent the people. Our press no longer investigates before reporting, and no longer reports on anything of importance. We are enslaved in ignorance, imprisoned by debt, and controlled by fear. Happy holidays.
Why must men who can't allow themselves to touch women, and don't want to touch each other or themselves, touch children?
Because they still have the sucking reflex.
economicsvoodoo.com
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
★*˚°。°*。°*˚★*˚°。°*。°˚°★*˚°。°*。°*★*˚°。°*。°*★
˛ °_██_*˚°。°/ ♥ \*˚°。°*。°*★*˚°。°*。°*★*˚°。°*。°*★
,˛. (´• ̮•)*.。*/♫..♫\*˛.*˛_Π_____*˚°。*。°*❤*˚°。°*。°*★
,,.°( . • . ) ˛°./• ‘♫ ‘ •\.˛*./______/~＼*˚°。°*。°*°*❤ ˚°*★
,,*(…’•’.. ) *˛╬╬╬╬╬˛°.｜田田❤｜門｜╬╬╬╬╬*
If you want to KEEP your Healthcare plan you can PERIOD
If you LOVE your doctors you can keep them PERIOD.
...No body can take it away from you...F! Oba...masturbator LIED.
Are you lost?
you look good in that aluminum foil hat ...
Religion is a mental illness.
Aye a wee bit of rest and the good father will be spanking new!
Here is a web list of pedo priests see if there is one near you !! its alphabetical
http://bishop-accountability.org/priestdb/PriestDBbylastName-G.html
where's the Muslim list? You idiots think Catholics are the only ones?
You care to post the Muslim list? No? Why not? You pedophile supporters are most disgusting.
Who said they were the only ones?
if this dude was REMOTELY religious he would CONFESS all his sins to the nearest police department and due his TIME... "GOD" will protect him in jail.
Leave of Absence?!?! why is he not in JAIL.
These religions need to stop acting like they are morally better than others cuz their faerie tale is better...
A Jail Cell should be where his absence takes him
Look, these guys that abuse kids totally disgust me, but this man has not been found guilty, has not stood trial, has not even been charged. Let's not get hysterical here.
I know what.
Since he is so High on the Moral Chain of Christianity, let us just ASK him if he did anything wrong.
He would NEVER lie, especially knowing this dude in the sky will know and he will get coal in his stocking.
Since you have done some putrid things, you should be kicked in the balls... just saying....
Pope Gaga : If a man of the cloth touches a child , Well Who Am I To Judge let god be the Judge ?
That should should sweep the issue right under the carpet ! pass it onto the big man in the sky Job Done?
Really ! why are you in power exactly ?.
Gaga is smarter than the average trailer trash and knows the difference between the relationship between consenting adults and an adult an a minor.
Gaga is smarter than the average trailer trash and knows the difference between the relationship between consenting adults and an adult and a minor.
Don't try and paraphrase the Pope. You look like an ass.
Regardless of how this incident ends, this church official has not shown himself to be genuinely concerned about child abuse practices within his organization. See this MPR link for background on what occurred here on his watch:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/catholic-church/
He is a well known conservative in his interpretation of Catholicism and instead of focusing on the issue of priest pedophiles, he has spent much attention and church funding (including an archdiocese-wide dvd distribution) against marriage equality (lost that one), abortion, and–horrors of horrors–use of birth control. He even wrote a response to a mother telling her she'd end up in hell should she reach out in a conciliatory fashion to her adult gay son. So that type of family values guy, but don't clean house in regards to the long term issue of moving pedophile priests around to continue their abusive acts while preventing any legal prosecution of them for their crimes.
The church is hiding these people that's the problem , This Pope has did 0% all he has done is kissed a few babies and in this context I think he should stop it. Exploiting kids for his self purpose & his mentally crippling of the young to expand his empire, is just as sick as this monster .
Cut the crap. He's been Pope exactly nine months, you have no creaking clue as to what he's going to do. Shut up.
Yes He and his Vatican boys bought A 5 million dollar property with the biggest GAY SAUNA in EUROPE in it.... NICE START DON'T YOU THINK ?
Can you clarify to what you are referring exactly here?
Prove it. Post a link that stated equivocally that Pope Francis did anything of the sort.
A big old liar.
Pope buys gay sauna... huffington post god enough for you LOL
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/12/vatican-gay-sauna_n_2858995.html
It is a allegation not a charge, BIG Difference!
POPE QUOTE !! It hurts me when I see a priest or nun with the latest-model car. You can’t do this. A car is necessary to do a lot of work, but, please, choose a more humble one. If you like the fancy one, just think about how many children are dying of hunger in the world."
How about this POPE GAGA think of how many compensation claims your sick pedophile hiding church can give out to heal ?
They're donated, most of the time. I also see many nuns in station wagons that are 20 years old.
You are grasping at straws to propel your faux outrage.
Shut up DONATED .. by the poor in the community who put cash in the plate .....
You should hide your IP address before replying , it says Vatican (damage control) !!!!!
Donated by car dealerships, you stupid ass.
You should hide yours; it says Mobile, Alabama, which explains your stupidity.
Sooner or later Pope Frank is going to have to start dealing with the culture of pedophilia in the church. Yes, there are still a lot of Catholics out there that will forgive this behavior, but more and more people are fed up. And when it comes to the suits – a billion here and a billion there, and after a while you're talking abut real money.
Anything pedo falls in the category of creepy, and creepy needs to stop. We need to have a war on creepy.
How do you know he isn't starting to? There are many ways to skin a cat, but I would agree ultimately we'll be looking for proof that he is all the he claims to be. An admission, though, could actually break the Church, and then we'd be left with Protestants in all their evangelical forms. I'm not supporting what has happened, but I am saying there may be reasons this is coming out slowing and now as a grand announcement.
Maybe everybody should do a little research for themselves. Just because some priests molest boys, doesn't mean they are more likely to than regular men. Look it up. Sure it's a problem, but abuse by priests is no more pervasive than abuse by men in GENERAL.
(http://www(dot)newsweek(dot)com/priests-commit-no-more-abuse-other-males-70625)
The thing that concerns me is that the bishop stated he didn't have inappropriate contact with a minor. Red flag. He didn't say he didn't put his hands on the boy's bottom. He said he didn't have inappropriate contact. Huge difference. Pedophile priest, it's been shown, often don't think they are doing inappropriate things. They think the child seduces them or whatever.
The questions need to be specific. Bishop: did you ever put your hand there. Period. Then read the reaction.
It'll come out in court – just need to give it time.
I caught that too. Pedophile central (the RCC) are full of these monsters and their supporters/parishioners.
This smells like a money grab to me. If this happened at a public photo shoot there should be witnesses.
maybe NOT fred
St. Paul Police Chief: Archdiocese Has Not Been Very Cooperative on Se-x Abuse Cases, That Has to Change
By the way fred what about the 1.4 million year old hand bone that closes the human fossil gap ?
It'll never close the gap for him – he's willfully ignorant.
Just maybe it might help fill the gap between the ears – fred !
Possibly, but the ex mayor of San Diego used to grabass at photo shoots all the time. If there's just a few people in the photo, and their attention is on the camera, they might not see what's going on in back of them.
This happened at a public photo shoot?
Yes.
Why the leave? Why not just terminate him from the position?
I know....guilty until proven innocent.
Well, to be fair, these are allegations. Nothing has been proven. As long as he doesn't have access to children anymore, we have to let the judicial system take over.