Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/528042
ByNicoleWinfield The Associated Press VATICAN CITY Theembat- tled archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis and his deputy resigned Monday after years of pressure, an indication Pope Francis is making good on his prom- ise that no one is above the law when it comes to cover- ing up for clergy who sexu- ally abuse children. Archbishop John Nien- stedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche stepped down after Minnesota pros- ecutors charged their arch- diocese with having failed to protect children from unspeakable harm by a pedophile priest who was later convicted of molest- ing two boys. Separately, the Vatican indicted Jozef Wesolowski, its own former ambassa- dor to the Dominican Re- public, on charges of sexu- ally abusing minors in the Caribbean country and pos- sessing child pornography. He will be the highest-rank- ing Vatican official ever to stand trial for a sex crime. Newtribunal The developments came days after Francis approved the creation of a new tribu- nal inside the Vatican to hear cases of bishops ac- cused of failing to protect minors, answering years of criticism that top-ranked churchmen have long been immune to punishment for ignoring or covering up for priests who rape and molest children. It's not clear if the tribu- nal — once it becomes func- tioning — would handle the cases of Nienstedt and Pi- che, since they are no lon- ger in office. They quit under the code of canon law that allows bishops to resign before they retire because of ill- ness or some other "grave" reason that makes them un- fit for office. Earlier this month, prose- cutors charged the Archdio- cese of St. Paul and Minne- apolis as a corporation with having "turned a blind eye" to repeated reports of inap- propriate behavior by the priest. The complaint did not name any individuals. The charges came two years after diocesan canon lawyer-turned-whistle- blower Jennifer Haselberger alleged widespread cover- up of clergy sex misconduct in the archdiocese, saying archbishops and their top staff lied to the public and ignored the U.S. bishops' pledge to have no tolerance of priests who abuse. Haselberger, who was Ni- enstedt's archivist, accused the church of using a cha- otic system of record-keep- ing that helped conceal the backgrounds of guilty priests who remained on assignment. She said she repeatedly warned Nienstedt and his aides about the risk of keep- ing accused priests in min- istry, but they took action only in one case. As a result of raising alarms, she said she was eventually shut out of meetings about priest mis- conduct, and later resigned. Nienstedt refused to re- sign after Haselberger's accusations, and later af- ter announcing that alle- gations of inappropriate sexual behavior had been made against him. He de- nied misconduct and the archdiocese hired a firm to investigate. No results were ever announced and recently Nienstedt hired his own attorney to look at the matter again. 'Clear conscience' In a statement Monday, Nienstedt said he was step- ping down to give the arch- diocese a new beginning. But he insisted he was leav- ing "with a clear conscience knowing that my team and I have put in place solid pro- tocols to ensure the protec- tion of minors and vulner- able adults." In a statement, Piche said: "The people of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis need heal- ing and hope. I was getting in the way of that, and so I had to resign." Monday's resignations bring to 18 the number of bishops who have stepped down after being publicly criticized for covering up for abusers, according to Anne Barrett Doyle of the online resource BishopAc- countability.org. In April, Francis accepted the resignation of U.S. bishop Robert Finn, who had been convicted in a U.S. court of failing to report a suspected child abuser. Francis has pledged that not even high-rank- ing churchmen — "dad- dy's boys" he called them — will get away with abuse or cover-up. The criminal charges against the archdiocese in Minnesota stem from its handling of Curtis Weh- meyer, a former priest at Church of the Blessed Sac- rament in St. Paul, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for molesting two boys and faces prosecution involving a third in Wis- consin. Prosecutors say church leaders failed to respond to "numerous and repeated re- ports of troubling conduct" by Wehmeyer from the time he entered seminary until he was removed from the priesthood in 2015. VATICAN USarchbishop,deputyresigna er archdiocese charged with cover-up CRAIGLASSIG—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Archbishop John Nienstedt talks with a reporter at his office in St. Paul, Minn. ROB FOUNTAIN — PRESS-REPUBLICAN Joyce Mitchell leaves Plattsburgh City Court a er her hearing on Monday in Plattsburgh, N.Y. By John Kekis The Associated Press DANNEMORA, N.Y. A woman charged with help- ing two convicted murder- ers escape from a maxi- mum-security prison in far northern New York by providing them with tools made another court ap- pearance Monday as the manhunt for them hit its 10th day. Prosecutors say Joyce Mitchell, a prison tailoring shop instructor who had befriended the inmates, had agreed to be the get- away driver but backed out because she still loved her husband and felt guilty for participating. She is charged with helping Richard Matt and David Sweat escape from the Clinton Correctional Facility near the Canadian border on June 6. Mitchell made her sec- ond court appearance in Plattsburgh on Monday wearing a striped prison jumpsuit and a bulletproof vest, and she waived a pre- liminary hearing. The case against her is now headed to a county court. "Basically, when it was go-time and it was the ac- tual day of the event, I do think she got cold feet and realized, 'What am I do- ing?'" Clinton County Dis- trict Attorney Andrew Wy- lie said Sunday. "Reality struck. She realized that, really, the grass wasn't greener on the other side." Wylie said there was no evidence the men had a Plan B once Mitchell backed out, and no vehi- cles have been reported stolen in the area. That has led searchers to believe the men are still near the maximum-secu- rity prison in Dannemora. At the same time, Gov. Andrew Cuomo cautioned that for all anyone knows, the convicts could be in Mexico, where one of the inmates had fled after killing his boss in the late 1990s. Mitchell, 51, was charged Friday with sup- plying hacksaw blades, chisels, a punch and a screwdriver. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea on her behalf. She has been suspended without pay from her $57,000-a-year job overseeing inmates who sew clothes and learn to repair sewing machines at the prison. Sweat, 35, was serving a life sentence without pa- role for killing a sheriff's deputy. Matt, 48, was do- ing 25 years to life for the 1997 kidnap, torture and hacksaw dismemberment of his former boss. Prison worker charged with aiding escapees appears in court again NEW YORK By Mark Stevenson The Associated Press MEXICO CITY Mexico on Monday enacted a measure meant to help hundreds of thousandsofyoungmigrants who have returned from the United States, dropping a re- quirement that they provide government-certified, trans- lated copies of foreign school records in order to study in Mexico. Mexico had required re- cords be certified with a seal known as an apostille and be translated by a cer- tified translator in Mexico. The costly and cum- bersome process had dis- couraged hundreds of thousands of returning migrant children from going to school in Mex- ico, or meant they could only audit courses with- out official recognition. Hundreds of thousands of children have returned to Mexico, mainly from the United States, after their parents were deported or chose to return. The Education Depart- ment published changes to the rules on Monday, saying its goal was to make edu- cation more accessible. The department also dropped the certified-translation re- quirements. "The main problem that migrants face when they try to get school services, is the lack of documents, and the requirement that they get the apostille," the Educa- tion Department said in a press statement. The apos- tille is a seal issued by state or federal agencies to au- thenticate government doc- uments, including school records. The seal costs only about $8 per document, but get- ting schools to express-mail documents to apostille of- fices in the U.S., and then on to recipients in Mex- ico, from outside the coun- try, and then getting them translated, can run into hundreds of dollars. Berenice Valdez, the public policy coordinator for the non-government? Institute of Women in Mi- gration, told of one return- ing migrant in the cen- tral state of Puebla who earns less than $100 per month and has three chil- dren who need to authen- ticate their U.S. school documents. The woman couldn't even afford to travel to the state capital to start the process. "It is a very big prob- lem that prevents access to education for many chil- dren," Valdez said. The in- stitute estimates that about 307,000 foreign-born chil- dren were studying in Mexi- can schools, almost 290,000 of whom were born in the United States. EDUCATION Mexico drops certification requirement for US-schooled kids Round Up Saloon Round Up Saloon 610WashingtonSt. (530) 527-9901 and and Ownership Ownership STOVEJUNCTION The TheNorthState'spremiersupplierofstoves 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com Over 25 years of experience Tues-Sat9am-5pm• ClosedSun&Mon Now Carrying! GreenMountainGrills & Accessories Serving Butte, Glenn & Tehama Counties Hours: Mon: 7am-2pm Tues-Sun: 7am-9pm 8051 Hwy 99E, Los Molinos • 384-1031 "Cafe by day, Steakhouse by night" FamousforourhandpressedREALBurgersandChoiceSteaks. Meeting rooms available at no charge MILL CREEK CAFE 10 Minutes from the fairgrounds 10% Off any $10.00 purchase Interland Business & Gifts 1122 Solano St, Corning, CA Office (530) 824-5696 Email: interlandbus@gmail.com Public Fax: (530) 824-6659 Black&ColorCopying Laminating ~Spiral Binding Business Cards Raffle Tickets Typing ~Resumes ~Flyers Visit our Gift Shop RED BLUFF OUTDOOR POWER 490 Antelope Blvd 527-5741 Mon.-Sat. 8am-5pm POLE SAW TRIMMER HEDGER CHAINSAW "ONE BATTERY FOR ALL!" • 40V Lithium Ion • Instant Start • Low Noise • Light Weight $ 329 99 $ 299 99 $ 399 99 $ 399 99 CORDLESSTOOL SYSTEM Growney Motors 1160 Main St., Red Bluff (530) 527-1034 Please call our Service Department at (530) 527-1034 WE NOW OFFER SMOG SERVICE andscheduleyour appointment today!!! SPRING SPECIAL MODERNCLEANERS 609WalnutSt.,RedBluff•527-4308 20 % off Mustbepresentedwithincomingorder.Notgoodwithotheroffers.Expires6/30/15 DRAPERIES Wetakedown & rehang your drapes 515SycamoreSt.,RedBluff 529-0260 MOULE'S TEHAMA COUNTY GLASS WESERVICE Garage Doors Springs Cables Sectional Remotes Rollers Water Truck Service from Walberg, Inc. We'll deliver water to your tank, water your roads for dust control, or water your plants. We're here for all of your Water Truck needs. Open Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Call us today @ (530) 824-0773 or (530) 567-6246 Topsoil from Red Truck Rock Yard LLC !!! • Standard Blends • Premium Blends • Special Blends • Also Available: Mushroom Compost Mulch • Worm Castings Open Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. We'llalsodeliverstraighttoyou. Call us today @ (530) 824-2418 | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015 8 A