Be it politicians of church leaders regardless of their denomination, experience has demonstrated that the more shrill and ant-gay a politician or cleric is, the more likely that they are a self-loathing closet cases. In the political realm we have had local Virginia Congressman Ed Shrock, Senator Larry Craig while among the clergy we have seen everything from Ted Haggard who used male prostitutes to anti-gay Catholic clergy who ultimately are exposed as closeted gays (or more often pedophiles) who prey on those under their tutelage or those powerless to rebuff their sexual advances. In the latter category, as noted before on this blog, is Minnesota Archbishop John Nienstedt who, with perhaps a few exceptions, is among the most outspoken anti-gay members of the Catholic Church hierarchy. Personally, I would love to see the allegations prove true in which event Pope Francis should strip Nienstedt of ALL of his priestly titles and toss him from the clergy, revoking his retirement in the process. If the allegations prove true, Niensddet needs to be left penniless and devoid of any continuing Church derived support. The Daily Beast looks at the scandal swirling around Nienstedt. Here are highlights:
There may be something to be said for the theory that anger and hate stem from an individual recognizing in others a quality that they themselves possess, but don’t want to. One of the Catholic church's most vocal opponents of homosexuality is currently under investigation after allegations that he had multiple sexual relationships with priests, seminarians, and other men.
Minnesota archbishop John Nienstedt, 67, has spent years advocating against gay marriage. In 2013, speaking to a starry-eyed crowd at the Napa Institute, he said: “Today, many evil forces have set their sights on the dissolution of marriage and the debasing of family life. Sodomy, abortion, contraception, pornography, the redefinition of marriage, and the denial of objective truth are just some of the forces threatening the stability of our civilization.”
Nienstedt—he of the dramatic side-part and deer-in-the-headlights gaze—warned that “Satan knows all too well the value that the family contributes to the fabric of the good, solid society, as well as the future of God's work on earth.”
Beyond allegedly engaging in sexual behavior completely at odds with everything he purports to believe, Nienstedt is said to have punished those who turned him down. Commonweal, the Catholic magazine that broke the story of the investigation, quoted Jennifer Haselberger, a former top canon lawyer for the archbishop, saying he “also stands accused of retaliating against those who refused his advances or otherwise questioned his conduct.”
Nienstedt was not only alleged to have failed to report charges of criminal sexual behavior, but also to have taken steps to to hide the existence of such allegations altogether. Twin Cities law enforcement accused Nienstedt of failing to cooperate with investigators. The controversy caused Nienstedt’s top aide, Rev. Peter Laird, to quit after his suggestion that the archbishop resign was dismissed.
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