ST. PAUL, Minn. – Allegations of misconduct have been dropped against Archbishop John Nienstedt for ineffectual decisions regarding pedophile priests when he was the Vatican-appointed leader of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese from 2008 to 2o15. The decision, made in Rome, was announced by the headquarters of the 188-parish St. Paul Archdiocese. The Vatican decisions ends a lengthy investigation. Nienstedt took “imprudent” actions but did not violate church law, the investigation’s concluding document said. Even so, Nienstedt remains in exile outside the St. Paul Archdiocese. Reportedly he is doing non-sacrament local parish service somewhere in Michigan. The investigation also examined charges that Niensted molested boys when was bishop in New Ulm and on an ecclesiastic trip to Germany. These were charges that Nienstedt denied and proclaimed he had been faithfully celibate.
Nienstedt. Now 76. Vatican investigators say he did not violate church law although was imprudent. The terms and distinctions s were not spelled out in the archdiocese announcement in St. Paul.
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