The Diocese of Crookston announced Tuesday that the Vatican has ordered an additional investigation into the conduct of Bishop Michael Hoeppner, the first U.S. bishop to be investigated through a process developed by Pope Francis last year.
The Congregation for Bishops in Rome authorized Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis to conduct a further investigation into claims that Hoeppner had engaged in “acts or omission intended to interfere with or avoid civil or canonical investigations of clerical sexual misconduct” as per moto proprio (an edict issued by the Pope to the Roman Catholic Church) as Vos estis lux mundi.
The investigation into Hoeppner began in September when the Congregation of Bishops asked Hebda to conduct a preliminary investigation. Hoeppner also placed Father Bryan Kujawa on administrative leave for his conduct, including “boundary violations” in January according to a statement at that time from the Diocese.
Judge Timothy O’Malley, Director of the Archdiocesan Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment, will serve as the Archbishop’s Delegate for the investigation. The statement on the Diocese of Crookston website also states “The Congregation has also specified that for the duration of the investigation, the faculty to deal with cases of sexual abuse against clerics of the Diocese of Crookston has been transferred from Bishop Hoepnner to Archbishop Hebda.
