Archbishop says he didn’t mismanage abuse scandal

Published 10:10 am Thursday, July 31, 2014

ST. PAUL — The head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis says he won’t resign, despite criticism that he and other local Roman Catholic Church leaders concealed allegations about abusive priests, and he again dismissed allegations of sexual misconduct of his own.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Archbishop John Nienstedt said Wednesday that he doesn’t believe he has mismanaged the scandal. He said he was shown memos about problem priests, but didn’t fully grasp the scope of the troubles until last fall, after a former archdiocese employee went public with her concerns.

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