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US Bishop Hoeppner resigns after Vatican probe into cover-up
April 13, 2021
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FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 10, 2008 file photo, Bishop Michael J. Hoeppner of Crookston, Minn. prays during a semi-annual meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, in Baltimore. A Minnesota bishop who was investigated by the Vatican for allegedly interfering with past investigations into clergy sexual abuse has resigned. The Vatican said Tuesday, April 13, 2021 that Pope Francis had accepted the resignation of Crookston Bishop Michael Hoeppner and named a temporary replacement to run the dioceses.Steve Ruark/AP
ROME (AP) A Minnesota bishop who was investigated by the Vatican for allegedly interfering with past investigations into clergy sexual abuse has resigned, the Vatican said Tuesday.
(Crookston, MN) He had been Bishop since 2007, but now is on the outs.
The Catholic Diocese of Crookston announcing Tuesday that Bishop Michael Hoeppner is out. This materialized after Pope Francis personally asked for his resignation, due to Hoeppner at times, reportedly failing to act on allegations of sexual abuse involving clergy in the diocese.
The full statement from the diocese is as follows:
It has been announced today that, after an extensive investigation, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, asked for, and has now accepted the resignation of Bishop Michael Hoeppner from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Crookston. The investigation which led to the acceptance of Bishop Hoeppner’s resignation arose from reports that he had at times failed to observe applicable norms when presented with allegations of sexual abuse involving clergy of the Diocese of Crookston.
Minnesota bishop resigns at the request of Pope Francis
Pope Francis accepted Rev. Michael Hoeppner s resignation Tuesday.
Author:
Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Rev. Michael Hoeppner Tuesday.
In fall of 2019, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced that police had been informed Hoeppner allegedly tried to interfere with investigations into sexual abuse by clergy within the Diocese of Crookston.
Hoeppner was investigated for these allegations under Pope Francis’s 2019 protocol aimed at holding bishops and other church officials accountable in cases of sexual abuse.
“The investigation which led to the acceptance of Bishop Hoeppner’s resignation arose from reports that he had at times failed to observe applicable norms when presented with allegations of sexual abuse involving clergy of the Diocese of Crookston,” a statement from the Diocese of Crookston read Tuesday.
The Vatican had tasked St. Paul-Minneapolis Archbishop Bernard Hebda with conducting a preliminary investigation. Last year, Hebda’s office announced that the Holy See had authorized a more in-depth probe.
Hoeppner is accused of stating that a priest was fit for ministry despite allegedly knowing the priest had abused a 16-year-old boy in the early 1970s. The victim, Ron Vasek, later sued the diocese, alleging that Hoeppner blackmailed him into retracting his allegations against Monsignor Roger Grundhaus. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed sum in 2017.
Hoeppner was the first bishop known to be investigated by the Vatican under a 2019 law that Francis approved laying out the procedures to conduct preliminary investigations against bishops accused of sex abuse or cover-up.