How Will Pope Francis Handle Bigoted Hypocritical Gay Archbishop John Nienstedt?

I'm a huge Pope Francis fan. I've never been into religion but I've had a great feeling about this guy as soon as he became Pope. I've always said I wished there would be one truly great president-- instead of all the mediocre crap-- before I die. That's why I pray that Elizabeth Warren actually goes for it at some time. The office seeks the man (or woman), not-- ideally-- the other way round. It worked out well enough in Rome this last time.

But now Pope Francis is going to have to confront what too many of his predecessors have hidden behind institutional hypocrisy to avoid: Church higher-ups who preach homophobia, hatred and bigotry, while sneaking around and having sex with men. The Republican hierarchy let's Aaron Schock, Lindsey Graham, Patrick McHenry, et al get away with this… but will Pope Francis? He has already indicated that he doesn't have a beef with civil unions and that homosexual behavior (you, know, the real thing-- not the theory) isn't something he can be the judge of. But the Catholic Church is still mired in hypocrisy, hypocrisy that was exposed again this week when Minnesota Archbishop John Nienstedt, an hysterical anti-gay sociopath, was exposed as a secret lover of male genitalia. There are 10 sworn statements from men who the Archbishop either had sex with them or tried to and "he also stands accused of retaliating against those who refused his advances or otherwise questioned his conduct."

Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis is being investigated for “multiple allegations” of inappropriate sexual conduct with seminarians, priests, and other men, according to the archbishop’s former top canon lawyer, Jennifer Haselberger. The investigation is being conducted by a law firm hired by the archdiocese. Nienstedt denies the allegations.

The investigation was spurred by information the archdiocese received late last year, according to another person with knowledge of the investigation. (This inquiry is not related to a December 2013 accusation that Nienstedt touched a boy’s buttocks during a confirmation photo shoot. The archbishop denied that allegation, and, following an investigation, the county prosecutor did not bring charges. Reportedly the case has been reopened.) Near the end of the year, it came to light that a former Twin Cities priest had accused Nienstedt of making unwanted sexual advances.

…The archbishop has been under intense scrutiny since September 2013, when Haselberger went public with damning accounts of the way the archdiocese had dealt with clerics accused of sexual misconduct. One of those priests was Curtis Wehmeyer, a man with a history of inappropriate sexual behavior who was nevertheless promoted by Nienstedt to become pastor of two parishes. Wehmeyer went on to molest children at one of those parishes. One of the questions investigators have been asking is whether the archbishop had an unprofessional relationship with Wehmeyer.

…He was installed as archbishop in 2008. Before long, Nienstedt had established one of the signature issues of his episcopate: homosexuality. His statements on that issue add controversy to the investigation of his own behavior.

“Those who actively encourage or promote homosexual acts…formally cooperate in a grave evil and, if they do so knowingly and willingly, are guilty of mortal sin,” Nienstedt wrote late in 2007. That echoed a column he wrote the year before-- while bishop of New Ulm—cautioning Catholics against watching Brokeback Mountain, a film about two married cowboys who fall for one another. He wondered whether Hollywood knew just how dangerous their “agenda” was: “Surely they must be aware that they have turned their backs on God and the standards of God in their quest to make evil look so attractive.”

Before the 2010 midterm elections, Nienstedt turned his attention to the burgeoning gay-marriage movement. He recorded an introduction on a DVD opposing gay marriage, which was sent to four hundred thousand Minnesota Catholics. The same year a Catholic mother wrote to him pleading for acceptance for her gay son. He recommended she consult the Catechism. “Your eternal salvation may well depend upon a conversation [sic] of heart on this topic,” he replied. And in 2012, Nienstedt led a coalition of religious leaders pushing for an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Reportedly, Nienstedt committed $650,000 to those efforts. The amendment failed.

But by the fall of 2013, Nienstedt’s focus would be pulled away from gay marriage to an issue of greater urgency: the sexual abuse of children by priests. In September of last year, Minnesota Public Radio reported that the archdiocese was aware of Fr. Curtis Wehmeyer’s history of misconduct when Nienstedt promoted him to pastor. He refused to inform the parish staff of Wehmeyer’s troubling past. The cleric eventually molested the children of a parish employee.