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Archbishop John Nienstedt said on Friday that the Twin Cities archdiocese would release names of priests who have sexually abused children. A day and half later, church officials added caveats.
Archbishop John Nienstedt announced he will release the names of some priests who are known to have abused children. Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul attorney who has represented many victims of clergy sexual abuse, joins The Daily Circuit.
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The list will be limited to living priests who still reside in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and who have been determined by the archdiocese to be guilty of abuse. Archbishop John Nienstedt did not say how many names would be released.
A retired priest who admitted to sexually abusing several young boys and a teenager on a South Dakota American Indian reservation now lives less than a block from a school in New Prague, Minn. Three archbishops and other leaders of the Twin Cities archdiocese kept Clarence Vavra's past a secret, moving him 17 times during his 38-year career. Today, Archbishop John Nienstedt acknowledges that "serious errors were made by the archdiocese in dealing with him," and pledges to disclose the names of other priests who have abused children.
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Dozens of gatherings dubbed "atheist mega-churches" by supporters and detractors are springing up around the U.S. after finding success in Great Britain earlier this year. The movement fueled by social media and spearheaded by two prominent British comedians is no joke.
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Demonstrators said Nienstedt should resign over how he's handled alleged sexual misconduct by priests, his support for a failed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and the decision by church leaders to make extra payments to priests who have sexually abused children.
In separate statements posted to its website late Sunday, the archdiocese said the priests volunteered to take leaves of absence. The archdiocese did not explain why both priests reached this decision at the same time.
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