John Clayton Nienstedt
John Clayton Nienstedt is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the eighth Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis from 2008 to 2015. He previously served as Bishop of New Ulm from 2001 to 2007.
Early life and education
John Nienstedt was born in Detroit, Michigan, to John C. and Elizabeth S. Nienstedt. The second oldest of six children, he has two brothers, Richard and Michael, and three sisters, Barbara, Mary, and Corinne.He graduated in 1969 from Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit with Bachelor of Arts degree, before studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Sacred Theology in 1972. On April 29, 1972, he was ordained a deacon at the Pontifical North American College. He also received a licentiate from the Pontifical Institute of St. Alphonsus in 1977.
Priest
Nienstedt was ordained a priest on July 27, 1974, in the United States. He then served as an associate pastor at Guardian Angels Parish in Clawson until 1976. He became secretary to Cardinal John Francis Dearden and a part-time professor of moral theology at St. John Provincial Seminary in Plymouth in 1977. He was also a weekend associate pastor at St. Fabian's Parish in Farmington Hills and at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Farmington. He became vicar general for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1979. He accompanied Cardinal Dearden to the August 1978 papal conclave, where he met the future Pope John Paul II.In 1980, Nienstedt was assigned to the English desk of the Vatican Secretariat of State. While in Rome, he also served as a chaplain at Baby Jesus Hospital and to the Brothers of Holy Cross. He earned a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Institute of St. Alphonsus in 1985; his doctoral thesis was entitled, "Human Life in a Test-tube; the Moral Dimension of In Vitro Fertilization and Embryo transfer."
In early 1986, he was named temporary assistant pastor at St. Regis Church in Birmingham and adjunct professor of moral theology at SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake. He was made pastor of St. Patrick's Parish in Union Lake in July that year. In 1987, Nienstedt was appointed to reorganize his alma mater Sacred Heart Seminary. He became its Rector in 1988. He became an Honorary Prelate of His Holiness in 1990 and pastor of the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak in 1994.
Bishop
On June 12, 1996, Nienstedt was appointed auxiliary bishop of Detroit and titular bishop of Alton by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on the following July 9 from Cardinal Adam Maida, with Cardinals James Aloysius Hickey and Edmund Szoka serving as co-consecrators. He selected as his episcopal motto: Ut Omnes Unum Sint, 'That All May Be One'.As an auxiliary of Detroit, Nienstedt served as Episcopal Vicar for the Dearborn, Downriver, Monroe, Northwest Wayne, Southland, and Western Wayne vicariates.
Nienstedt was named the third Bishop of New Ulm, Minnesota, on June 12, 2001, and was installed on August 6. He denounced the more progressive views of his predecessor, Raymond Lucker, told Catholics not to read Lucker's book as representing Catholic doctrine, and asked the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to assess the validity of his views. Discussing the Terri Schiavo case, he stated, "Her case demonstrates the disparity that exists in this country between laws and basic moral principles. While we cannot legislate morality, we ought not to be legislating immorality." He warned that the film Brokeback Mountain was part of the agenda that "severs the connection between marriage and gender". He summarized the plot–"one man makes a pass at the other and within seconds the latter mounts the former in an act of wanton anal sex"–and called it "a story of lust gone bad".
During his tenure, he chaired the Committee on Priestly Formation and was a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Health Care Issues and the Church in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Archbishop
On April 24, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Nienstedt coadjutor archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the designated successor to Archbishop Harry Flynn, who was approaching the mandatory retirement age of 75. Both Nienstedt's parents died in the course of six weeks in the winter of 2007.When Flynn's retirement was accepted on May 2, 2008, Nienstedt succeeded him as the eighth Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He received the pallium, a vestment worn by metropolitan bishops, from Pope Benedict in St. Peter's Basilica on June 29, 2008. Shortly after becoming archbishop, he discontinued the gay pride prayer service that was held at St. Joan of Arc Church in Minneapolis; he had previously described homosexuality as a "result of psychological trauma" that "must be understood in the context of other human disorders: envy, malice, greed, etc." He declined numerous invitations to attend the 2008 Republican National Convention, which was held in St. Paul. During the 2008 presidential election, Nienstedt criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He said she had a "misinterpretation on the question of when life begins" and that her "remarks underscore once again the need for Catholics, and especially Catholic politicians, to form their consciences according to the moral truths taught by the Catholic Church." He also criticized the Freedom of Choice Act, saying, "It is hard to imagine a more radical piece of pro-abortion legislation."
Strategic planning
In October 2010, Nienstedt announced a strategic plan that called for 21 parishes to be merged into 14 neighboring parishes. An appeal process was put in place which included information about the right to appeal announced parish mergers to the Holy See. All appeals had run their course by early 2012. Decisions regarding buildings and other property of the merged parishes were made by local leaders in consultation with the archbishop and a representative body of priests. These and two layer mergers reduced the number of parishes from 213 in October 2010 to 188 in July 2013. The mergers involve parishes across the Archdiocese.Positions on public issues
In October 2012 Nienstedt used more than US$600,000 in Archdiocesan funds to promote the approval of Minnesota Amendment 1 to ban same-sex marriage in the state. Minnesotans rejected the amendment at the polls on November 6, 2012, by five percentage points. Over Nienstedt's continued opposition the next session of the state legislature approved legislation legalizing same-sex marriage, which the governor signed into law on May 14, 2013.Nienstedt upholds the Catholic teaching of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. He stated that Satan is behind sodomy, abortion, contraception, pornography and the redefinition of marriage. He opposes embryonic stem cell research involving discarded human embryo stem cell lines, and later bar-closing times.
Investigations of alleged personal misconduct
The Archdiocese announced on December 17, 2013, that Nienstedt had voluntarily "stepped aside from all public ministry" after learning that on December 16 local police launched an investigation into an allegation that he had touched a boy on the buttocks during a post-confirmation photo session in 2009. The Archdiocese had encouraged the person who reported the incident to them to contact the police. Nienstedt maintained that this allegation against him was "absolutely and entirely false." On March 11, 2014, county officials announced they had concluded an "intensive investigation" and would not file charges against Nienstedt, who announced his return to public ministry the same day.In July 2014, it was announced that Nienstedt was under a non-criminal investigation by his diocese for "sexual misconduct with men." He commented saying "I have never engaged in sexual misconduct and certainly have not made any sexual advances toward anyone.... The allegations do not involve minors or lay members of the faithful, and they do not implicate any kind of illegal or criminal behavior."
Handling of accusations of priestly sexual abuse
The archbishop was criticized in 2014 for the way "his diocese has dealt with sexually abusive priests". Nienstedt responded, writing in a diocesan publication that although "it is very clear that we did not handle all complaints the way we should have in the past... I have never knowingly covered up clergy sexual abuse I promise to make changes".Six priests publicly criticized Nienstedt's handling of the allegations, with some calling for his resignation. Nienstedt said that he would only resign if the papal nuncio took action.
Nienstedt testified under oath in a civil court in 2014 about his knowledge of priests accused of child sexual abuse. He said in an April 2, 2014 deposition that he had not known until March 2014 that a Rev. Kenneth LaVan, a priest accused in the 1980s of sexual assault of at least one teenage girl and "sexually exploiting" several women, was still in ministry in violation of church policy. Documents released in August 2014 as part of a lawsuit against the Archdiocese showed that the archbishop received several updates on LaVan and approved his continuing work at Twin Cities parishes, as recently as August 15, 2013. The documents also indicate that Nienstedt had spent time socially with LaVan, as recently as June 2013.
Nienstedt also testified under oath that he had first learned of the criminal conviction of the Rev. Gilbert Gustafson, an archdiocesan priest, "during the last six months", and claimed little knowledge of Gustafson. Documents subsequently released by Minnesota Public Radio in October 2014 showed that Nienstedt had been informed by letter by a parish director of music in 2008 of Gustafson's prior criminal convictions for sexual assault of boys, and that Nienstedt had replied to the letters.
Resignation
On June 5, 2015 it was announced that a Minnesota prosecutor was bringing criminal charges and initiating a civil suit against the archdiocese for failing to protect children from sexual abuse. Ramsey County prosecutor John J. Choi alleged "a disturbing institutional and systemic pattern of behavior committed by the highest levels of leadership of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis over the course of decades".Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee A. Piché submitted their resignations to their posts, citing the provision of canon law that allows a bishop to resign when some "grave reason" makes it impossible to continue to fulfill his duties. Pope Francis accepted the resignations on June 15, 2015.
Nienstedt issued a statement that said he resigned "with a clear conscience knowing that my team and I have put in place solid protocols to ensure the protection of minors and vulnerable adults." Pope Francis named Bernard Hebda, Coadjutor Archbishop of Newark, to serve as the Archdiocese's Apostolic Administrator; he was appointed Archbishop on March 24, 2016.
After resignation
After he resigned his position in Minnesota, Nienstedt returned to Michigan, where he has a home on Lake Huron. In 2016, he served briefly as substitute priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo, but quit after only a week due to objections from local parishioners in Battle Creek. He moved again in 2016 to Napa Valley, California, where he worked as an independent contractor for the Napa Institute, editing conference proceedings for publication. He also participated in their annual conference and said Mass. On 15 August 2018, after being criticized for its relationship with Nienstedt while condemning the Church's failure to hold prelates like Cardinal Theodore McCarrick accountable, the Institute announced that Nienstedt had "stepped aside" from his responsibilities, and that it was understood that the Institute had been advised that "there are no restrictions on Archbishop Nienstedt’s ministry".In July 2016, documents related to the investigation by the diocese into Nienstedt were released. He retains his status as an archbishop.