The Roman Catholic leader who championed the unsuccessful effort to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota is now under investigation for inappropriately touching a minor.
According to Minnesota Public Radio, Archbishop John Nienstedt strongly denied the allegation but is stepping down in the meantime:
Archbishop John Nienstedt, leader of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has voluntarily “stepped aside from all public ministry” while police investigate an allegation that he touched a boy on the buttocks in 2009.
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Nienstedt publicly addressed the ongoing clergy sex abuse scandal in the archdiocese head-on Sunday at Our Lady of Grace parish in Edina, telling parishioners and the media that he’s sorry he overlooked issues of abuse among parish priests.
Neinstedt has claimed that Satan is behind gay rights and described homosexuality as a “grave evil.”
Not only did Neinstedt use the church apparatus to advocate for the failed marriage amendment, but he also tried to silence clergy who had reservations about his anti-gay crusade.
