The Diocese of Crookston announced Tuesday that the Vatican has ordered 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.
Hoeppner will not be permitted to oversee sexual abuse cases in his diocese during the follow-up investigation.
“Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis has recently been authorized by the Congregation for Bishops in Rome, to conduct further investigation related to claims that Bishop Michael J. Hoeppner had engaged in ‘acts or omissions intended to interfere with or avoid civil or canonical investigations of clerical sexual misconduct’ as prescribed by the motu proprio, Vos estis lux mundi,” the Crookston diocese announced Feb. 4.
Hoeppner, 70, has been accused of mishandling the cases of priests accused of sexual misconduct: the bishop is reported to have pressured an alleged victim to drop his allegation of abuse against a priest, failed to follow mandatory reporting laws, and neglected to follow protocols designed to monitor priests accused of misconduct.
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