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The Minnesota Court of Appeals has cleared the way for attorneys representing an alleged victim of clergy sexual abuse to question Archbishop John Nienstedt under oath.In a three-page order issued Wednesday, Chief Judge Edward Cleary denied requests by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona to block depositions of Nienstedt and former vicar general Kevin McDonough.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – He liked to be called “Father Jerry”.By his own account, Gerald Funcheon of the Catholic Order of the Holy Cross – the Croisers – started abusing young boys in the 1970’s here in the Twin Cities.”I suspect, and I don’t remember, it would have been at it St. Odilia’s,” he testified in a 2012 deposition.”The guy was a wolf,” according to David Bidney, one of kids who says he was abused starting when he was just 10. “They hurt me bad. And they hurt a lot of kids bad.”In addition to St. Odilia’s in Shoreview, Father Jerry served in parishes and schools in Anoka, Onamia, and St. C…

Documents released Tuesday by the St. Paul police department in a closed investigation show that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis knew in 2004 that a priest had searched online for sexual images of children.

After the Rev. Gil Gustafson was convicted of child sex abuse 30 years ago, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis made sure he was financially secure for decades to come.The church continued his priestly salary and health insurance, covered his living expenses and psychological treatment and paid for his education and training, according to church records and a former archdiocese accountant. It has given him jobs in the chancery, helped him establish his own consulting business and steered clients his way.

After the Rev. Gil Gustafson was convicted of child sex abuse 30 years ago, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis made sure he was financially secure for decades to come.The church continued his priestly salary and health insurance, covered his living expenses and psychological treatment and paid for his education and training, according to church records and a former archdiocese accountant. It has given him jobs in the chancery, helped him establish his own consulting business and steered clients his way.

The Los Angeles Archdiocese has settled what officials said is the last of its pending priest molestation lawsuits, bring to a close a decade of wrenching abuse litigation that cost the Catholic Church more than $740 million.The church reached the $13-million agreement with 17 victims last week, on the eve of a trial scheduled to begin Feb. 14 over the alleged acts of Father Nicolas Aguilar-Rivera, a visiting cleric from Mexico who police believe molested more than two dozen boys over nine months in 1987.Eleven men, who were ages 7 to 12 when they were allegedly abused by the priest, were sche…

News ReleaseFebruary 16, 2014 Judge Denies Archdiocese’s and Diocese’s Motion to Stay Discovery and Depositions of Archbishop Nienstedt and Fr. Kevin McDonough (St. Paul, MN) – Ramsey County Judge John Van de North denied a request today from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona to stay discovery in a civil lawsuit and delay the release of names of priests who have been accused of sexual abuse since 2004. Also, the depositions of Archbishop John Nienstedt and former Vicar General Kevin McDonough will proceed in the civil lawsuit filed on beh…

Duluth, MN (NNCNOW.com)– A lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Ramsay County against the Diocese of Duluth on behalf of a man who claims he was sexually abused by a priest who had worked in the Diocese for more than two decades.The lawsuit claims the man was the victim of repeated sexual abuse in 1976 when he was 13 years old and serving as an altar boy.The claim says he was abused by Father Vincent Fitzgerald who has since died.The abuse is alleged to have started at St Thomas More, a parish in the Diocese of New Ulm, which is also named in the lawsuit.The lawsuit claims the sexual abuse continue…

At a press conference today in Duluth, a courageous sexual abuse survivor, Doe 30, and his attorneys, requested the Diocese of New Ulm to release its list of priests with credible allegations of sexual abuse. They also asked the Diocese of Duluth…

A Ramsey County judge ruled Tuesday that key leaders in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis will have to answer for their alleged actions for the first time ever, according to KSTP reporter Beth McDonough. Archbishop John Nienstedt and Father Kevin McDonough will have to go on the record and talk with investigators about how the church handled sex abuse allegations made against priests in local parishes. The transcript of the depositions of Archbishop Nienstedt and Father McDonough will be sealed.  The judge also ruled the diocese must release the list of priests accus…