Community Corner

At Edina Mass, Archbishop Apologizes That He 'Overlooked' Sex Abuse

Not all Edina residents were accepting of Archbishop John Nienstedt's Our Lady of Grace apology. "This type of Nixonian cover-up can't be replicated in the Catholic Church," one resident said.

Apologizing for having "overlooked" issues of sexual abuse by Minnesota priests, Archbishop John Nienstedt said mass Sunday at Edina's Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, where three former priests were included on a list of clergy “credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors."

After the mass, Nienstedt told a group of parishioners and reporters that he believed the issue of clergy sex abuse to have been resolved when he became archbishop in 2007, according to Minnesota Public Radio.

"Unfortunately I believed that and so my biggest apology today, and I did this last week at two other parishes, is to say I overlooked this. I should have investigated it more than I did," he said.

In a homily delivered to parishioners, he apologized "for the indignation that you justifiably feel," adding, "You deserve better." 

"The negative news reports about past incidents of clerical sexual abuse in this local Church have rightly been met with shame, embarrassment and outrage that such heinous acts could be perpetrated by men who had taken priestly vows as well as bishops who failed to remove them from ministry," he wrote in the homily, according to MPR.

Edina residents had mixed reactions to the archbishop's remarks.

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Terry Colleran of Edina told MPR he thought the homily was a "deep-felt apology."

"He would like to reconcile with those offended," he said. "I wish the people offended would come forward with the same spirit and reconcile. We're all sorry. We know they've been offended. We're angry and we're embarrassed."

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Others, such as Troy Selzer, said Nienstedt's primary concern was protecting his image and that he should have disclosed information sooner.

"This type of Nixonian cover-up can't be replicated in the Catholic Church. We have turned off way too many congregants," Selzer said.


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