Viganò denies accusations of obstruction in Nienstedt investigation

Washington D.C., Aug 28, 2018 / 05:44 pm (CNA).- Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has released a statement responding to accusations that he had curtailed an investigation in 2014 into the sexual misconduct of Archbishop John C. Nienstedt.

“These accusations – alleging that I ordered the two Auxiliary Bishops of Minneapolis to close the investigation into the life of Archbishop John C. Nienstedt – are false,” wrote Vigano in a statement published online Aug. 27.

The former apostolic nuncio published a testimony two days prior, calling for the resignation of Pope Francis and several cardinals and bishops on the basis of his accusation that they had covered-up the sexual misconduct of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick.

Media accounts of that testimony included the allegation that in 2014, Vigano had attempted to stop an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct on the part Archbishop John Nienstedt, who was at that time Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

In July 2014, Fr. Dan Griffith sent a memo to the auxiliary bishops of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Lee A. Piche and Andrew Cozzens, saying he believed that Vigano had instructed Piche that lawyers were “not to pursue any further leads, including an allegation…Archbishop Nienstedt may have had sexual relations with a Swiss Guardsman in Rome.”

Griffith said that, according to his understanding, the nuncio “ordered you to have the lawyers quickly interview Archbishop Nienstedt and wrap up the investigation.”

Vigano’s account of the events following the meeting was different.

“I never told anyone that Greene Espel should stop the inquiry, and I never ordered any document to be destroyed. Any statement to the contrary is false,” Vigano wrote in his Aug. 27 statement.

Vigano said that the private investigators from the law firm had conducted “an unbalanced and prosecutorial style” investigation and  “wanted to immediately extend their investigation to the Pontifical Swiss Guard, without first hearing Archbishop Nienstedt.”

He noted that the law firm, Greene Espel, belongs to the group “Lawyers for All Families,” which had clashed with Archbishop Nienstedt previously over the approval of same-sex marriage in Minnesota.

“I suggested to the bishops who came to the Nunciature on April 12, 2014, that they tell the Greene Espel lawyers that it appeared to me appropriate that Archbishop Nienstedt be heard before taking this step – audiatur et altera pars – which they had not yet done. The bishops accepted my suggestion.”

“But the following day, I received a letter signed by the two auxiliaries, falsely asserting that I had suggested the investigation be stopped,” he continued.

“However, I did instruct one of the auxiliary bishops, Lee A. Piché, to remove from the computer and the archdiocesan archives the letter falsely asserting that I had suggested the investigation be halted. I insisted on this not only to protect my name, but also that of the Nunciature and the Holy Father who would be unnecessarily harmed by having a false statement used against the Church,” Vigano added.

Archbishop Nienstedt and Bishop Lee A. Piché both resigned in June 2015, after the archdiocese was criminally charged with mishandling sex abuse allegations. Prosecutors later dropped criminal charges against the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Archbishop Vigano resigned in April 2016, at the customary age of 75.

According to Vigano’s second written statement, Pope Francis ordered in July 2016 that his handling of the matter be investigated, in response to a New York Times article on the subject. He claims this resulted in a written report exonerating him, which, he wrote, is “found in the Vatican Secretariat of State and at the Nunciature in Washington, DC.”