Father Peter Laird

Father Peter Laird was appointed Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul in 2009. In 2013 Laird resigned from his position amid allegations that the archdiocese continued to assign a priest to ministry despite knowing the priest had possessed child pornography. Father Laird was ordained in 1997 in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and spent his entire career working in the archdiocese. He is currently the Vice Rector and Professor of Moral Theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

In a May 12, 2013, deposition taken in the Doe 1 case filed on behalf of a sexual abuse survivor, Laird provided testimony pertaining to the archdiocese’s internal policies and practices regarding priests accused of sexually abusing minors. When questioned about the archdiocese’s response in the case of Father Curtis Wehmeyer in 2012, Laird’s testimony directly contradicted the testimony provided by Archbishop Nienstedt, who had been deposed just one month prior.