Free Republic

In a Blog post addressing a letter written by Archbishop John Nienstedt to a mother explaining the Church's teaching regarding homosexual acts and the reception of the Holy Eucharist, Deacon Ryan Duns, the Jesuit seminarian who believes that "gay marriage" might be a movement of the Holy Spirit, said that the Archbishop's letter, "..serves only to reinforce the belief that the Catholic Church is a homophobic institution more concerned with obedience than human flourishing." See here. In his Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est (God is Love), Pope Benedict XVI writes, "It is characteristic of mature love that it calls into...

Lay Catholics hold no sway in the selection or termination of an archbishop, with those decisions made solely by the Vatican. But it is rare for even a handful of influential members of the local Catholic community to step out so publicly against an archbishop. They join a handful of local priests who have publicly called for new leadership. Several major donors say they will not give to any capital campaign or other archdiocese-led initiatives until its leadership is replaced. “Given the present circumstances with the archdiocese and the current leadership, we don’t plan to continue contributing to the archdiocese,”...

Archbishop John Nienstedt is warning Catholic clergy across Minnesota that there should be no "open dissension" of the church's strong backing of a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would define marriage as a union only between a man and woman.  In other early signs of the fervent campaign the church intends to wage for the amendment, which will be on every ballot in the state this fall, Nienstedt is appointing priests and married couples to visit archdiocesan high schools to talk about marriage. He has directed parishes to form committees to work for passage of the amendment....

His column harshly criticized for "spiritual violence" and "persecution" toward homosexuals November 19, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a recent column in the local diocesan newspaper, Minneapolis/St. Paul Coadjuter Archbishop John C. Nienstedt concisely explained the Church's teaching regarding both a homosexual's obligation to chastity and the Church's obligation to support and encourage such a chaste lifestyle. The column has caused a backlash of harsh criticism from the 'homosexual community' in what has until recently been known as a notoriously liberal Catholic diocese. Archbishop Nienstedt's column in the diocesan paper 'The Catholic Spirit' was authored as a sequel to a previous column,...