Winona Diocese Names 14 “Priests”Accused of Abuse

Jennie Olson kstp.com The Diocese of Winona has disclosed the names of 14 priests who it says have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors. A judge ruled they had until Tuesday to release it. The list includes the name, birth date and year that each priest was ordained. It also says whether the priest is alive, all parishes where they served within the Diocese of Winona, current status in the ministry and an address. Earlier this month, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis released a similar list with 33 names. Over the weekend, Archbishop John Nienstedt made a public apology at a church in Edina for clergy sex abuse. He told church-goers they deserve better, and he outlined the next steps. “I overlooked this,” he said. “I should have investigated it a lot more than I did. When the story started to break at the end of September, I was as surprised as anyone else.” The church has hired an outside firm to go through all of its files. There is also a task force to find out what went wrong.